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josephthesnailshow · 1 year

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How to Ratatwang Your Panda

Hello, before I start this, I know the grammar in this post will be off, but I hope it's at least in some way understandable. If you’re wondering about the film itself, I'm probably not going to send it to any of you due to legal reasons, but don't worry, I will explain this film to you.

There's a scene in Amazing World of Gumball from "The Treasure" about a movie called "How to Ratatwang Your Panda." The appearance of this movie was made as a parody of two mockbuster films by the Brazilian animation studio Video Brinquedo; however, the movie was planned to be a real television show. I will explain.

The show itself wasn't made for release due to reasons I'm about to discuss later in the post, but instead was used for parody in Gumball. The reason for this was that Warner Bros. wanted to have the creator of this certain show about a white cat with giant cheeks and black patches make it (I forgot the name of the show; correct me if you know), but he never did it until now.

It was mainly for other reasons, like focusing on his show; however, it didn't seem like that; he had intentions for the film, and I got involved with him directing the film.

You see, I was more of an animator at Cartoon Network Studios, and our ideas were low, mostly just doing stupid things like sitting around and drinking all day. The other employees were chill and pretty nice.

How did I get involved with this film? Well, judging by the little amount of experience I had with the 3D software, I did what I could to make a perfect film; unfortunately, my ideas were shut off since the director had darker intentions, and my idea on the title card was self-explanatory, so we went with it.

For the film itself, we modeled a panda as the main protagonist, and the bad rats are the main villains of the film. The panda’s name is Chuck, and our idea for the film was to be our version of Dreamworks’ Kung Fu Panda and Disney Pixar’s Ratatouille, or at least inspired by them.

However, the director had his ideas, and due to the film being his movie, he wanted to make it darker and quite disturbing even for the standards of this company, being, you know, aimed at younger audiences, even though we have Adult Swim; heck, his ideas weren't even for that either.

Before we modeled Chuck, the director wanted to make his own costume identical to the panda model so he could attract children and hold them close as they cried out for their parents. Luckily, we refused this idea, and the director listened to us.

It got weirder the next day when the director started talking about including violent moments that wouldn’t make it to children's TV, and yes, if you’re wondering, he mentioned things about harming children on camera, which wasn’t fitting since the plot was about a panda whose enemy is a group of rats, which is pretty innocent.

Even if we didn’t allow a lot of his suggestions, he still kept everything up, and the film was delayed as he kept wanting disturbing content to be added, such as in 1933, when there was a short called Peanut Vendor and he wanted to include a scene from that short; of course, he wouldn’t include the background song from Red Nichols due to us not owning the rights to it; the creepy part about this short was the design of the monkey itself; and to make matters worse, he wanted to add screaming from children.

While that may not be related, this is what he suggested.

We ended up not including it, but unfortunately, after we left for the day, he snuck into the animating room and started adding his ideas, and to make matters worse, yes, he kidnapped children to do this. How am I aware of this? Well, a friend of mine checks the security cameras periodically, and he shared this with me. We can say that he was definitely creeped out by the thing he was looking at, and I certainly can’t blame him.

However, after the director left, we came back, and nobody in the building knew what happened, so we continued working on the film, played the film on our player, and sat down to watch. The film started with my title card; clearly, this was originally planned to be a show, so I chuckled, and everybody did. I went to our vending machine, put a coin in the slot, and got my diet coke.

As I came back to the couch, the show started, and the rat that’s on Chuck’s good side asked him to pull out his secret weapon.

What we wanted to do was include a fart joke to make babies laugh, but that wasn’t included, even though we remember adding that. Instead, the scene we got was Chuck taking out a katana and slashing the rats, and their insides came out. Yeah, that’s what we saw; we didn’t care as we could take it out, and as the screen was zooming in on the bodies, it cut to the next scene.

What we saw was disturbing, and half of the other animators weren’t looking at the screen.

It was a person in a low-budget costume, resembling Chuck, with what looked like human eyes; he had stitches over his body; there was a video being played over and over of him grabbing rats and hitting their bodies on a rock until it fractured a bone in their bodies. As this graphic scene was happening, I realized that it might’ve been the director playing Chuck in this scene; I should’ve tried to get him to stop.

Some of the animators who weren’t looking at the screen started looking at the screen, just like everyone else; their pupils got smaller, and they were in pure horror. Suddenly, there were sounds of branches being stepped on, and the camera panned out to see who it was—it was a white cat. Just like Chuck, he was covered in stitches, and he had a plastered smile going from cheek to cheek, He also has black patches on his body.

It was Sammy the Cat; well, that’s who I thought it was, since I remembered that it was a character created by the director of this film.

Anyway, Chuck noticed Sammy, and the cat picked up a sledge-hammer and struck the panda with it, shattering the skull as I heard the crack. Instead of a cracking noise, it was a comedic hitting sound, similar to the sound that the 3 Stooges used. Yeah, I agree that it was pretty random to bring up that show, but it is the same sound.

As the cat was mutilating the costumed panda, he grabbed a stick and started jabbing the stick into his chest until it started cutting into the tissue and damaging the organs. After that, he started drawing numerous characters from other CN shows, such as Ed from Ed, Edd n Eddy, and Chowder from the show of the same name, on the panda’s body while making that unpleasant sound of skin tearing and other disgusting crap. I almost puked in my mouth; a lot of animators did.

After the scene, loud and horrible sounds of children would be audible; they were so loud that every employee in the building heard them. Some of them came to the animating room, and they were horrified by the footage being shown.

It was footage from Peanut Vendor, like I mentioned, and what the director suggested.

The Peanut Vendor was selling peanuts, and yes, the design was as disturbing and the same as the original 1933 film, If Len Lye were here, he would be creeped out by the fact that his film was being used in such a way, The footage then stopped with the monkey staring at the viewer, and the screaming from children stopped.

Everybody in the room was getting uncomfortable with the monkey and the look of it in general; it cuts to the front side of CN, the building we’re inside of right now. However, when I noticed something in the window of the building, the employees and animators allowed me to examine it; clearly, it was something paranormal. If I recall, when my friend was looking at the security footage (he’s in the animating room, by the way), he saw an employee start running in the hallway cameras, followed by a gunshot, He didn’t investigate it; he just focused on the man who snuck into the animating room that night.

It was claimed that the figure in the window was the ghost of the employee who worked here. Also, I would like to point out that we at customer service, if you ever ask us about the death of this employee, would say that there weren't any deaths of any employees here.

However, after the last scene ended, the DVD came out of the player. Luckily, we never aired it, but if you want to watch this DVD, you will never watch it, and if you want to watch it, we took the first scene from this film, brought it back to the original animation with the farting scene, and we gave it to Ben Bocquelet so he could include it as a parody in his episode of Amazing World of Gumball, titled, as I mentioned in the beginning of this post, The Treasure.

We never told him about the directors’ idea of the film or showed him any screenshots; we just gave it to him.

I would like to end this post by saying that if you ever contact customer service, you won’t get the answer you’re looking for, and we will say no to this film ever existing, and we will point all signs to the cleaned-up version of the one used in Gumball; watch that instead.

As always, thank you for reading my post. Make sure to not work with a director whose mind is as dark as a dinner that was in the oven for too long.

#Cartoon Network #creepypasta #lost episodes #television #sammy the cat #warner bros #CN

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dearlawdimasimp · 3 years

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Hey hey heyyyy!! Here was the fluff fic i mentioned in this post that was supposed to be short but guesss what? its 3.4k words/8 pages long! 😃 istfg jaghshs anyways..enjoy!!

Doc Green..Ock??

Warnings: few cusses, grammar, use of "dude" once but mostly gender neutral, no use of y/n..i think

Pairings: Sinister Five x gn!reader(platonic); Octogoblin x gn!reader(implied romantic but can also be close platonic)

Summary: A small spark of creativity could make a flame of..interesting events..

Special thanks to @aviary-co for the GIF 🥰

You were tinkering away at the built-in lab in your house, having a close relationship with Tony Stark has really many pros than cons and this being one of them.

The house that you are currently living in alongside the former 'sinister five' is included in that list. It's a very nice, simple modern two-story house that was able to accommodate 5-6 people. It is fenced and has both front and backyard, patches of grasses and bushes placed neatly and accordingly. (the design and layout of the house and lot is up to your imagination)

Now, back to you tinkering. You were happily making some little adjustments to Peter's suit. The boy trusted you enough to allow you to add a few modifications. Though you wouldn't call yourself some kind of mechanic, or any of that but you were knowledgeable enough that you could probably make an animatronic come to life. (the modification is up to you since i could not come up with anything at the moment 😁)

While adding a few touch ups on the suit, your eyes glanced at the goggles sitting at the table on your right. It was Norman's green goblin goggles that you decided to keep. The man was insistent on throwing it away, and you couldn't blame him for doing so, but you don't want to waste such a fine accessory! Let's just say you're something of a collector yourself. You also changed a little bit of its design, giving it steampunk vibes, just so the former villain could rest easy. And it worked!

You gently put down Peter's spiderman suit and pushed yourself away from the table you were working on, letting your swivel chair roll against the floor and bring you to the table where the eye accessory sat. Taking it from the table, you bring it close to your face. The memory of making a model and 3d printing the added design on the goggles made you smile. Norman's reaction seeing it made you smile wider, he said it didn't even dawn at him that it was the goggles he used to use, his face contorting from amusement to what you can think was wonder..although you weren't sure at that part since you were rambling off about resting your case on keeping the accessory.

You chuckle as the memory keeps playing in your head, leaning back to your chair and bringing the goggles with you as you prop your feet up on the table where the goggles were previously placed. Otto's face was also of amusement as his eyes kept switching back and forth from you and the goggles, at least that's what you remembered seeing while being a rambling mess in front of the two scientists.

Speaking of..

You wonder where they are, you stopped replaying the memory as you try to remember what happened before you decide to hyperfixate on the kid's suit.

It took you a minute, maybe more, to realize that they were all in the living room. Doing whatever men do when they're not busy. You could probably guess Norman is probably in the kitchen preparing dinner with Otto helping him, Max probably playing video games, while Flint and Curtis..maybe playing chess? You've seen them play chess against each other from time to time so the idea is not impossible.

Or you know, you could've just got up from your chair and see what they were doing but no. You're still on the chair..because an idea was sparking in your brain. It was a very random, yet mischievous and maybe inching towards the "stupid" side, idea that it made you take your feet off the table and sit up.

What if you take off the recently added designs on the goggles, it was detachable, and wear it WITH Otto's coat..?

The thought makes you all giddy and grin mischievously, wondering what the two's reactions will be. And without further ado you carefully detached the gold-painted designs, flee your lab and go to Otto's room.

You did not waste any second as you quite literally sprinted to the stairs and up to Otto's room while putting on the goggles on your head. You heard them call out to you and you replied with a quick, "Everything's fine, it's just...IDEA!!!!" This situation, you being all giddy and excited and stuff and running around, may or may have not happened quite a few times before that they have decided to leave you to your own devices when it occurs.

You reached Otto's door and swiftly opened it, you took a second to scan the room if it was empty or were you disrupting something, finding nothing you also decided to glance at the stairs to see if any of your..targets.. followed you. Relieved on seeing none you entered the room and quietly shut the door.

Otto's room was as simple and neat as the man himself. Everything was well-organised and not a speck of anything out of place in the room. You have admired the way he had made himself at home countless times before as this wasn't the first you entered his quarters and it just makes you..maybe a little warm inside. Seeing the physical resemblance of his comfort, which took awhile but you couldn't blame the man, brings a little joy to you.

FOCUS.

Oh right. The idea. Nearly throwing yourself to the closet as you sprinted across the room, you hastily opened it. You did a small double-take at your actions though, checking if you did not accidentally rip the closet door from its hinges. Seeing as you did not, you carefully dug through the clothes the doctor had bought for himself a month ago, trying to find the coat he wore when he first arrived in this universe as quickly as you could.

Where the hell- OH.

You quickly snatched the piece of clothing and swiftly put the coat on. The smell that just screams Otto Octavios, along with the warmth the coat is giving, drowns your senses. It's just so comfortable and-and–

FOCUS.

Right. Right. RIGHT. Focus! You then hold the lenses of the goggles that were sitting on top of your head and you bring it down to your eyes. Adjusting it a little making sure it was sitting comfortably on your face while trying to find a mirror. Once you catch your reflection you can't help but laugh. Otto's coat was so fucking big on your frame that it almost made you look like a small child wearing an adult's clothing. The shoulder part was hanging off your shoulder, the sleeves are big and long that your hands are nowhere to be seen, and the coat has pooled on your feet, giving a little bit of cloak vibes to you.

You rolled up the sleeves a little just so you could at least see your hand, patting the coat and off you go.

You opened the door and peeked to the hallway, seeing the coast was clear you closed the door behind you and walked to the stairs. You took a small breath in and out and prepped yourself, quickly making an impromptu introduction in your head as you made your way down.

You halted before your feet could be seen and peeked from the small railings of the handle of the stairs, the lively living room clear from your spot. They were all talking amongst themselves and you guessed right about where each of them would be, your targets busy, the other two also busy..wait where's Max?

"The hell are yo-"

Your brain ran billion miles per hour as you connected the dots and was able to quietly shush Max, possibly flailing your arms with the long sleeves of the coat looking like you had amputated your arms in the air while silently shushing the man. The electricity wielding human was able to shut himself up on time that he didn't gain any attention from the people on the other side of the room.

"Just gooo and act like you didn't see me!"

You yelled in a whispering manner while shooing him away. He looked like he was about to ask something but you quickly shut him down with a look. He obeyed but with a disbelieving laugh and shaking his head, walking back to the couch he was sitting on previously. Flint and Curtis asked him why he was laughing but he kept silent and shrugged. Although Max was eyeing you as he continued playing.

That was fucking clooose.

With a last huff of determination and a small smirk of mischief, you finally made yourself known.

You let out the evilest cackle you could make and stomped your unmatched socked feet on the stairs, "Can the Sinister Five come out and plaaay?" you spoke loudly and may have made your voice sound like you have gone insane, maybe singing Beetlejuice's part in the musical is paying off a little at this moment. Your expression, of course, you did not forget. A wicked grin and scrunched brows were plastered on your face, resembling a manic person's expression as you turned towards your audience.

Max was trying not to laugh, Flint was confused, Curtis was amused at the performace while your targets, Otto and Norman, had little smiles on their faces but still confused about the situation.

Oh come on! I'm supposed to be fucking scary.

You whined in your head, their reaction annoying you a little. Although you did look a little ridiculous with the large coat and goggles and all. You didn't hide your annoyance though, you used it to continue and fuel your performance, "Oh, is this amusing you?" You sneered with a smooth tilt of your head, dropping the grin and replacing it with a deep frown.

"We don't..talk like that, dear.." Otto's small pause was clearly an indication that he was trying not to laugh at the performance you were freely giving. "We could-" Norman's thought was cut off as the lights flickered.

Max's joyous expression dropped into something serious at the flicker, the former sandman and lizard glancing at him accusingly made him yell, "what?! Just because I can control electricity y'all can look at me like that."

While all of them bickered you laughed, evil-ly, cutting their conversation. "You're all reeeaally underestimating me..aren't you?" You tilted your head to the other side while you prolonged the word, your wicked grin back to your face.

The lights continue to flicker, their expression now is much more serious than before, thinking that this is an actual foe and not the friend they have all known and began to love, moreso for the two scientists in the adjacent kitchen about the latter.

Max was confused though, he just talked to you not long ago before you started this whole thing. Actually, everyone is confused. They all had just spoken to you, even if briefly, and they are met with this….?

The expressions they're wearing satisfied you that you stopped messing with lights and started to laugh, genuinely and hysterically, not the evil one. You were bent over while clutching your stomach, laughing loudly, "Your faces!! HA!" You wheeze as you take off the goggles to wipe the tears from the corners of your eyes.

The previous tension that slowly filled the room dissipates into small chuckles as the group collectively relaxes. "This kid..I swear.." You heard Curtis mumble loud enough for the other people in the room to hear, making you double your laughter to the point that you were laying down on the cold floor.

"I- hehAHA- I- " wheeze "- I got you though!!" You snicker as you try to tone down your laughing but instead you laugh harder.

"That you did, you little minx. That you did.." Norman says with a little sigh. You could hear his feigned disappointment and a little bit of sarcasm through your laughing, "Though Otto's previous remark stands true. We don't talk like that, honey.."

You have finally calmed yourself down and are now only a giggling mess on the ground. "Yeah, yeah, suuure.." Chortling in between sentences as you sit up, crossing your legs as you look up to them from your spot. Max has his hand on his face while chuckling to himself, rubs his face before resuming his game, Flint and Curtis have also gone back to playing their chess, and Norman and Otto had delighted smirks etched on their face as one has leaned on the counter with both hands and the latter has his arms crossed on his chest while looking at you, his mechanical appendages floating behind him and chittering amongst themselves. Maybe they held a little bit of pride in their eyes but it was mostly joy and amusement.

You smirk as you twirl the goggles on your hands, having to roll up the sleeves of the giant man's coat beforehand, "So..I had a little thought.." you started but before you could continue you hear Flint humorously grumble, "here we go again.." earning small chuckles from the men in the room and a small laugh from you. "It's not like what you saw before noo! no, no.. it's just a thought really…just a thought." You reassure them with an eased grin and small flick of your other hand, "What would've been my villain name with this get up? I was thinking…Doc..Green..Ock…?? Wait- wait no that-"

All of the scientists look at you in bewilderment, "Doc Green Ock- what???" the perplexed Dr. Connors looks at your direction, now distracted from his game.

The dark skinned villain on the other chair not far from him was laughing hysterically, unable to pause his game making him lose, "Aww, damn it!!"

Flint rolls his eyes and crosses his arms, leaning back to his chair, "It's not like you did not name yourself just "Lizard" before, Connors.." "This is a completely different case!!"

"- jUst - wait. Wait let me come up with something better-" You try to control the humiliating situation that you're in, standing up and walking closer to the group as you try to think of a much better name, but before you could you accidentally slipped on the ridiculously large coat you were wearing. "Oh fu-" You swear you saw your life flash before your eyes. You braced yourself for the impact,

"Woah-" "Hey!" "Dude!" You heard multiple of them cry out to you-

But someone..or something wrapped itself around your figure and caught you before you landed harshly on the ground.

"Careful!" But Otto's voice boomed louder than the rest of them, worryingly, as his top right actuator that had curled itself around your frame gently lifted you and put you back on your feet. Small relieved sighs fill the room. You shyly glanced at them, Norman had left his previous place and is now on the door of the kitchen and Otto now had his human arms on his sides. You pat the mechanical limb, like a small thank you to the both of them, "Sorry, sorry, but as I was saying- how about Doc Goblin!!" You proudly stated as the actuator slowly unraveled from your body, its claws softly snapping at you as if giving you a gentle scolding, you sheepishly grinned at the AI and at the people in the room as you wore the goggles again, "Ehhh?"

"Hmm..not bad…" Flint comments while swiftly changing some of the pieces on the chessboard, grabbing the chance to cheat while his foe was distracted. Said foe is looking at you incredulously while glancing at the former villains that are currently being ridiculed by their significant other, whose faces are nothing but pure adoration but also baffledness.

Max saw what Flint did and was about to snitch when the former sandman gave him a 'don't you dare look'. In which the electric charged fella retaliated with something of a 'not my fault you kept on losing, idiot' look before rolling his eyes and going back to playing.

Of course you saw that too but you decided to say nothing, "See! Flint agrees!! Doc Goblin.." you say in wonder.

"It certainly has a nice ring to it." When Otto gave his comment, the blonde scientist gave a 'meh' look and turned to Flint, who was acting as cool and collected as he could with his pointer finger rubbing his chin in thought while his eyes were trained on the board. It only took Curtis a second before giving a low and dangerous, "You changed it didn't you?" "What are you talking about?" was Flint's "confused" reply.

Otto rolled his eyes at the two bickering, slowly arguing, men then looked at you, who's prideful grin did not falter. He glances at the blue-eyed scientist, who is now approaching you, soft expression ever present on his face, "I thought you redesigned it..?" Norman asks curiously as he reaches out to touch the rim of the goggles, you saw a little flash of grief in his eyes but it was gone not long after.

"It was detachable. I wanted to preserve its old design- it has a good rim!" You tell him as you gently pried his hand from your face and hold it, giving it a gentle squeeze since you did not miss the brief flash of sadness.

He hums and kisses the back of your hand, changing the course of the conversation. "Looks good on you, love. Don't even get me started on the coat!" He comments with a chuckle, and carefully twirled you around. The comment also made the owner of the coat chortle.

You giggle as you let him spin you, the coat fluttering a little as you did.

"But I'm afraid I'll have to take it before you successfully hurt yourself." The large scientist says as he approaches the both of you.

You look at him as you stop twirling, a small pout on your face, "Oh c'mon! I literally just wore it!" "And you nearly hurt yourself not a moment after." His tone and expression not leaving any space for arguments, but you matched his look with a stubborn huff. "Darling…." he warns, the claws of the actuators matching his energy as it chittered and clicked in warning.

Norman on the other hand was not saying anything of the matter, his silence piques your curiosity and you glance at him, you also need his support at the moment. You were expecting to see him having the same expression Otto was wearing but instead..you saw a small mischievous smirk tugging the corner of his lips.

Ohhhhh..

You both stared at each other for a moment, although your eyes were blocked by the dark lenses of the goggles a silent agreement was made.

"Don't make me say it again, dear.."

When Otto started to move closer to you, you immediately jumped on Norman's arms and he was quick to catch you before sprinting away from the other scientist.

This clearly surprised Otto as it took him a moment to catch up to you two.

You and Norman were giggling like teenagers as you ran ahead from your "persuer", carrying you to the backyard. The whirring of a Norman's glider distracted you from laughing at Otto, who was catching up quickly to the both of you with the help of his actuators. You were not able to register the next events but you heard Norman grunt in force as he leapt on his glider, not breaking a single sweat and flew away from the ground.

A small yelp escaped your lips as you held onto the older man tightly, seeing as you were floating a few feet away from the ground, Norman doing the same thing. You trust him with your life though so you did not worry too much about it. A laugh slips from your lips as the glider turns to face Otto, seeing his "not amused" face making you laugh more with Norman joining you.

"You two are going to be the death of me.." he lightly commented with a squint.

You playfully stuck out your tongue, "You love us though!" "I clearly do.." was his last reply before using his actuators to reach both of you. Norman, clearly not letting this game end quickly, flew much higher and farther from him, away from the reach of the mechanical limbs.

"Norman!!" Otto frustratedly yelled while you just laughed, enjoying the free ride. "Giving up already, honey?" Taunted Norman. "Who ever said I was?" former Doc Ock quickly replied and continued to chase you both.

"Gosh I love you both.." You uttered, this made them halt from their shenanigans for a moment, "Love you too, dear." "And I you, love."

And the chaos resumes.

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Thank you everyone for reading! I hope you guys enjoyed it!! leave comments and suggestions in the comment section or my ask box! its always open for anything, requests and stuffs etc! Have a good day/night!!!💞💞

Taglist:

@desnaa @ambermation

(i tagged the peeps who commented at the linked post above! ^-^)

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babyboiboyega · 4 years

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1.02: “Wendigo” Pt. 1 (SPN Rewrite)

Supernatural (Rewrite)

Pairing: none...yet

Episode: “Wendigo”

Summary: Sam and Dean follow the coordinates in their father’s journal and land in Colorado, where they investigate the disappearance of several campers with the help of Ersa, an old friend.

Rated TV-14 for profanity; horror; violence; gore; some disturbing content; sexuality; alcohol;

Word Count: 6k (this is a short part, but I hope you enjoy it all the same!)

Babyboiboyega’s SPN Rewrite Masterlist

Babyboiboyega’s Supernatural Masterlist

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She tried to find something to keep her eyes from closing, for as of right now, she was rather close to going to sleep. Her eyes crossed as she looked at the blurred trees that raced by them.

After her eyes had closed for the umpteenth time, she finally sat straight up in her seat, taking a deep breath. Her hand raised and rubbed at her face, the movement causing Dean to glance in the rearview mirror at her.

“Good morning, sleeping beauty.”

His voice was soft to not disturb Sam, who slept with his head against the window. He glanced over at his brother before focusing back on the road.

Ersa scoffed softly.

“I wasn’t even asleep. Wouldn’t want to leave you up and alone.” Though her voice was quiet, the sarcasm could easily be heard as she spoke. It made Dean grin.

“Well, thanks for gracing me with your oh, so wonderful company-”

His words were cut off by Sam gasping loudly and shooting forward out of his sleep. The action caused both Dean and Ersa to jump slightly, but they mostly just looked at Sam in worry. He didn’t notice either of their gazes as he focused on taking deep breaths, no doubt trying to scrub his mind clean of whatever he had just dreamt.

The smile on Dean’s face had disappeared as he glanced over at Sam, his features set in a worried expression.

“You okay?”

Peering over the front seat, Ersa could see Sam rub his face and pinch the bridge of his nose before casting a glance at Dean.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

The tone of his voice openly contradicted his words, as his voice was rough and almost emotionless. There was a small waver in his voice as he spoke.

Dean nodded, his eyebrow raising knowingly.

“Another nightmare?”

Sam cleared his throat but didn’t offer any other response, causing Dean to let out a sigh. Ersa couldn’t blame Sam for not wanting to answer. She could only imagine what Sam had gone through a week ago, and it wasn’t surprising when he was reluctant to talk about it. She could tell that Dean, however, didn’t have the same understanding.

“Want to drive for a while?”

Both Ersa and Sam turned to Dean in surprise at his question. She had seen how protective Dean could be over his car, she had seen it firsthand; so the fact that he was asking someone else if they wanted to get behind the wheel and have full control over his car had her raising her eyebrows in surprise.

Sam let out a surprised laugh. He skeptically looked at Dean.

“In your whole life, you never once asked me that.” Dean rolled his eyes right as Ersa began to speak.

“Yeah, and you threatened to commit double homicide when we got a few scratches on the paint.” She knew why Dean had asked, it wasn’t hard to figure out why. It was a way to distract his younger brother from his traumatizing memories, although neither of them would admit it.

“A few scratches?” His voice sounded incredulous as he replied, “You and Sammy drove my car through an entire house. ‘A few scratches’ my ass. Just thought you might want to. Never mind.”

Ersa grinned, sitting back and continuing to peer between the two brothers.

“Look, man, you’re worried about me. I get it, and thank you, but I’m perfectly okay.”

His statement prompted a noise of disagreement and a short “mhm” to come from Ersa and Dean. Eyebrows furrowed, Sam glanced at the two of them, face set into a frown. Despite knowing that she had no place to tell Sam how to feel, she knew for a fact that what he was doing, claiming that he was “perfectly fine” after witnessing his girlfriend’s paranormal death a week ago, was not the best way at handling it. Despite all of this, she kept her mouth shut.

The car grew silent as Sam reached forward, grabbing the map off of the top of the dashboard. He opened it quickly, glad to direct their attention towards something else.

“All right”, he cleared his throat, “where are we?”

Whether Sam was successful or not at changing the topic completely, Dean replied, his eyes on the road.

“We are just outside of Grant Junction.”

The big, red X that was scribbled on the paper told them that they still had a good drive until they reached Blackwater. Sam raised the map closer to his face as a heavy sigh left his mouth.

“You know what? Maybe we shouldn’t have left Stanford so soon.”

The dejection in Sam’s voice caused Dean to momentarily pause and let out a tiny sigh. It hadn’t been the first time in the past week that Sam had suggested that they should have stayed in Stanford, investigating Jessica’s murder, and Ersa knew that it wouldn’t be the last. The entire reason behind Sam joining them on the road was Jessica’s death; all of his actions from here on out would be motivated by his desire to find the thing that killed her.

Ersa looked sympathetically at the back of Sam’s head, though she was happy he couldn’t see it. She was willing to bet that he wouldn’t appreciate it that much.

“Sam, we dug around there for a week. We came up with nothing. If you want to find the thing that killed Jessica…”

“Got to find dad first.” He said the words in a tired manner. After all, he had heard the same words from his brother more times than any of them could count.

“Dad disappearing, and this thing showing up again after 20 years?” Dean glanced over at Sam, “It’s no coincidence. Dad will have answers. He’ll know what to do.”

Ersa’s eyebrows raised at those words as they had also, unironically, been repeated more times than she could count. And she had noticed that it had always seemed to be Dean who said those words.

At the mention of their dad, Sam focused more intently on the map in his hands. He motioned towards the spot that was marked with the red “X”.

“It’s weird man. These coordinates he left us, this BlackWater Ridge…”

“What about it?” Dean’s voice sounded weary.

“There’s nothing there. It’s just woods.”

Ersa quickly sat forward once more, craning her head over the seat that separated them. Her eyebrows rose.

“‘Just woods’? What do you mean by ‘just woods’?”

Sam answered her by raising the map high enough to where she could see it, pointing at the words “Lost Creek, Wildness Area”. He leaned slightly to the side to see her reaction, which was quite different from his. Whereas he was confused about the coordinates their father had given them, she was cautious about the fact that they were being led to the woods. Nothing good ever happened in the woods.

“Nothing good ever happens in the woods.” She voiced her thoughts aloud, her eyes still trained on the map. Sam’s eyebrows furrowed inquisitively at her statement before he turned around to face the front once more.

He let his hands fall to his lap as he looked through the windshield.

“Why is he sending us to the middle of nowhere?” His question was rhetorical, but he spoke for all three of them when he asked the question. No one had the answer, but they were on their way to finding out.

*****

“So, Black Water Ridge is pretty remote. It’s cut off by these canyons here. Rough terrain, dense forest, abandoned silver and gold mines all over the place…”

Sam’s words could easily be heard, as the three of them were the only one’s in the office sized building. Ersa suspected that either this area was just that unpopulated, or the majority of the people they had seen coming in were outside, fawning over the Impala. They had seen several curious gazes when they pulled in, so the latter didn’t seem too impossible.

However, the more he spoke of how “rough” the surrounding area was, the warier she became. It led to her scanning the 3D model that Sam stood in front of, hoping that she would see an area that wasn’t raised to indicate hills and mountains.

“Dude, check out the size of this friggin’ bear.”

Dean sounded impressed as he gazed at a framed picture of a hunter standing over one hell of a grizzly bear. She barely glanced over, her eyes still roaming over the 3d model, while Sam straightened and walked to join his brother.

“...And a dozen or more grizzlies in the area.”

His words sent a small shiver down her spine. She could handle almost every monster out there, however, the thought of running into an actual bear somewhere in the woods shook her a little.

“It’s no nature hike, that’s for sure.”

“Yeah, no shit, Sherlock.”

She had meant for her words to only be heard by her ears, but the sudden silence that encompassed the room made her head snap up. Her eyes immediately landed on Sam and Dean, both of who were looking at her amusedly. Dean’s eyebrow raised, and there was a knowing smirk on his face.

“Don’t tell me someone’s afraid of the three little bears.” She knew he was just teasing, but it didn’t stop her eyes from widening as she quickly walked over to where they stood.

She pointed at the picture of the grizzly bear while keeping her eyes trained on Dean and Sam.

“‘Three little bears’ my ass, Dean. Look at this thing.” She turned her attention to the picture but still spoke to them, “I can assure you this, though. If we run into one of these out there, I’m leaving your ass in the dust.”

Her statement only made his smirk widening into a grin. She would describe it as a “shit-eating grin”.

“Cute of you to think you’d be able to outrun me.”

Her mouth opened, but before she could respond, Sam was stepping between the two. He looked between them before his gaze landed on Ersa, a small grin pulling at the corners of his mouth.

“My money’s on Ersa.”

While Dean’s smile dropped at his brother’s “betrayal”, Ersa’s smile only widened. Not because she had just won an argument, but it was nice to see a genuine grin, no matter how small, on Sam’s face. She internally patted herself on the back for getting him to smile.

Ersa turned, ready to rub her victory in Dean’s face, but a voice immediately caught their attention.

“You boys aren’t planning to go out near Black Water Ridge, by any chance?”

They all turned, eyes falling on an older man who had a uniform on. He looked as if if we were a park ranger.

The man’s eyes jumped between Sam and Dean before settling on Ersa, but only after she had stepped from behind Sam. His eyebrows furrowed as he looked at her.

“You boys and...gal.”

Ersa refrained from rolling her eyes at the obvious humor in his voice. She could see it in the way he kept looking between the boys and her as if the thought of her going to Black Water with Dean and Sam was humorous in some way.

“Oh, no, sir. We’re environmental-study majors from U.C. Boulder. Just working on a paper.” Sam nodded and spoke in confidence, glancing between Ersa and Dean, who in turn nodded in confirmation.

“Recycle, man.” Dean chuckled, raising his fist in a powerful gesture. Ersa couldn’t help the soft laugh that came from her mouth; the words “recycle, man” sounded weird coming from his mouth.

The man’s hand landed on his hip while his other hand held a cup. His eyes narrowed.

“Bull.”

That one word made all three of them tense, their grins dropping and their bodies freezing. Ersa caught Sam’s eye as he glanced over, his jaw tightening. Dean’s face had hardened, and his gaze stayed on the man across from them.

“You’re friends with that Hailey girl, right?”

It took a second for any of them to reply but in that second, they had all realized that this “Hailey girl” had to be someone significant.

“Yes, we are, Ranger...Wilkinson.”

The three of them followed Ranger Wilkinson’s movements as he walked and stopped behind a counter. They saw him laugh softly, but dryly, at Dean’s words.

“Well, I will tell you exactly what I told her.” He spoke in a slightly annoyed tone; most likely because he had repeated himself multiple times.

“Her brother filled out a backcountry permit saying he wouldn’t be back from Black Water until the 24th. So it’s not exactly a missing persons now, is it?”

Ersa could feel a small bubble of irritation forming in the pit of her stomach as she listened to the Ranger’s nonchalant words about a possible missing person. Any and everyone knew that these types of cases, where a person thinks a friend or family member is missing, usually ended with the authorities doing nothing only to find the missing person’s remains. As if someone would just report a person missing just for the hell of it.

“Tell that girl to quit worrying. I’m sure her brother’s just fine.” The ranger walked away, his head shaking slightly. Ersa’s eyes followed his figure, and she could feel how her face twisted at his back.

“We will. Well, that Hailey girl’s quite a pistol, huh?” Dean continued the act, smiling and raising his eyebrows.

Whoever this Hailey girl was, Ersa desperately wished that she were here so that she could defend herself from the dense ranger in front of them.

“That would be putting it mildly.” The ranger turned to make his exit, but Dean quickly spoke up.

“Actually, you know what would help is if I could show her a copy of that backcountry permit. You know, so she could see her brother’s return date.”

No matter how annoying Dean could be, Ersa had to admit that he could charm the skin off of a snake if he wanted to. This fact was only proven further when Ranger Wilkinson reluctantly sighed and motioned for them to stay put, before walking away to some unknown location.

The ranger’s actions did exactly what Ersa knew they would do: inflate Dean’s ego. That much was obvious as he turned to her and Sam, his eyebrows raising in a self-impressed manner.

They merely shook their heads at Dean and waited for the ranger to come back.

*****

His happy-go-lucky mood continued, even as they walked out of the building. There was the tiniest bounce in his step, and it made both Ersa and Sam squint in confusion.

A chuckle had just left Dean’s mouth when Sam finally spoke up.

“What, are you cruising for a hookup or something?” Dean quickly looked at him, his eyebrows furrowing but his smile remaining on his face.

“What do you mean?”

“The coordinates point to Black Water Ridge. So what are we waiting for? Let’s just go find dad.”

The annoyance in Sam’s voice was apparent, and it was emphasized as he quickly walked around to the passenger’s side of the car.

“I mean, why even talk to this girl?”

At his words, Dean’s smile had faded, leaving a confused expression in its wake. He looked at Sam over the top of the car.

“I don’t know, maybe we should know what we’re walking into before we actually walk into it.”

Ersa found herself nodding and agreeing with Dean’s words, but it also made her look at Sam in confusion as well. If she were to be honest with herself, she would have expected Sam’s words to come from Dean instead of the other way around.

Sam’s eyes flickered between the two of them before his head tilted, and his shoulders rose and fell in irritation.

“What?”

That one word was said in a biting manner as he raised his hands, his eyes widening slightly.

“Since when are you all ‘shoot first, ask questions later’?” The corner of Dean’s mouth lifted, his body leaning against the side of the car. Despite the tiny grin on his face, Sam’s face remained stoic as he replied.

“Since now.” Sam didn’t wait for a response as he opened the passenger side door, sliding into the car.

Ersa and Dean were left standing outside the car, looking at each other in a mixture of confusion and amusement, at least on Dean’s part. Ersa was quite worried. His eyebrows raised.

“Oh, really?” He asked no one in particular, his face twisting into one of...impression?

Ersa shook her head, opting to just join Sam in the car over opening her mouth and possibly making matters worse. It was hard when she had words for both of them. It’d be hard to keep them to herself until there came a point where she could truly say what she wanted to say.

There was a part of her that hoped that that time would come soon.

*****

Ersa wondered exactly what would come from seeking out “Hailey”, but she would have guessed that it was going to be something good the way Dean hastily drove to the woman’s house.

“Try not to scare the girl, will you? You seem a little too excited to ask about her missing brother.” She watched Dean in bewilderment as he knocked quickly on the door. The sound of Sam’s slow shuffled footsteps drew her attention to him as he joined them on the porch. She didn’t think he could look any more disinterested, and it made her furrow her eyebrows. She tried not to think too much about it as the sound of the door unlocking reached their ears.

The door opened, yet a screen still separated them from the young woman who had come to the door. Despite the screen, it was obvious that their presence confused, even worried, her.

“You must be Hailey Collins. I’m Dean, this is Sam, and Ersa.”

Sam offered a small nod as Dean introduced them, while Ersa sent a quick smile her way. Her eyes trailed over the three of them, her face not changing in the slightest...that is until Dean continued with their introduction.

“We’re rangers with the Park Service. Ranger Wilkinson sent us over. We wanted to ask you some questions about your brother Tommy.” Instead of remaining worried, she now looked at them skeptically. Ersa didn’t blame her.

Three rangers, yet none of them were wearing uniforms. None of them had badges, none of them had anything to back up their “ranger” story.

“Let me see some I.D.”

Ersa raised an eyebrow, looking at Dean and waiting to see how he would handle this. Even Sam looked at his brother, his eyebrows slightly raised.

“Oh.” It took Dean a matter of a few seconds to reach into his pocket and pull out a small car, holding it against the screen door. “There you go.”

Hailey regarded the car for a few seconds before her eyes lifted to look between the three of them. She reached to unlock the screen door and pushed it open.

“Come on in.”

“Thanks.”

Before they could walk in, Hailey’s eyes landed on the Impala, her eyes narrowing. She looked at Dean.

“That yours?” A self-satisfied smile appeared on Dean’s face as he looked back at her, nodding slightly.

“Yeah.”

She took a second to look at it once more before turning to make her way back into the house, throwing a “nice car” over her shoulder.

As they followed her further into the house, Dean turned around, looking at Sam and Ersa whole mouthing an “oh my…” in awe. Ersa rolled her eyes as she watched Dean fall in love within the period of a few seconds. She looked at Sam who merely shook his head at his brother’s antics.

Their steps were muted against the dark carpet of the house as they walked through. Ersa’s eyes roamed on their own accord, the habit of looking for anything that could be labeled as “weird” or “unnatural” showing its head.

They followed her into what looked to be a dimly lit dining room where another person, a man, was sitting at the table. He barely looked up from whatever was occupying him when they walked in. Even as she disappeared into the next room over, the man still hadn’t looked up at who he was now alone with. The sound of dishes being handled floated out of the room shortly before she walked out, now carrying a bowl.

“So, if Tommy’s not due back for a while, how do you know something’s wrong?”

His question wasn’t just a question; Ersa could hear it in his voice, the small hint of skepticism. He couldn’t see her face, but that didn’t stop her from narrowing her eyes at the side of his face.

Of course, she knew where his disinterest or hesitance was coming from; to him, this was just one more obstacle distracting them from finding their dad and possibly finding the thing that had killed, not only their mother but his girlfriend as well.

But this wasn’t just an “obstacle” they had to get over. This was a situation that could most likely turn into a potential case. A missing man somewhere in the woods? The number of cases she had that had started like this was too many to count; including the one case that would forever have a grip on her conscience.

Before her mind could force her to relive those memories, she tuned into the current conversation.

“He checks in every day by cell. He e-mails photos, stupid little videos. But we haven’t heard anything in over three days now.”

She rattled off the reasons behind her worry quickly, raising her eyes to meet Sam’s. He replied quickly as if he had already planned what he was going to say. His face showed indifference when he replied.

“Well, maybe he can’t get cell reception.”

Her eyebrows slightly furrowed and her head shook in slight denial.

“He’s got a satellite phone, too.”

Ersa could tell that Hailey had made up her mind on this entire situation. She could tell by the way Hailey didn’t back down, even as Dean and Sam asked questions that could prove otherwise.

“Could it be he’s just having fun and forgot to check-in?”

The man who had been sitting silently at the table now spoke up, his voice being accompanied by the clattering of his utensils hitting his plate. He looked at Dean, a tinge of annoyance being heard in his voice.

“He wouldn’t do that.”

He turned back to his plate, but not before Ersa caught a glimpse of his face. The person who she had thought was a man was a young boy; he couldn’t have been older than 17. Her eyes landed on Dean, who was looking at the boy in surprise.

“Our parents are gone. It’s just my two brothers and me.” Hailey looked at her younger brother fondly, but a sad and worried curtain had fallen across her face.

“We all keep pretty close tabs on each other.”

Maybe it was just her incredibly empathetic side, but as Ersa watched Hailey and her brother, she couldn’t help but feel the tension in the air. The tension of not knowing what was happening to a family member- a sibling- all the while being the only people who worried about him. Her brother wouldn’t lift his gaze from his plate, even as she continued to look at him.

Ersa felt her chest tighten the longer the silence stretched on, to the point where she had to look away. Ironically, her eyes immediately landed on a framed picture of the three of them, and it was easy to see how close they were, even in the picture.

“Can I see the pictures he sent you?”

She nodded, motioning them to follow her a few steps past the dining table and to a short desk. Her steps were quick, but at the same time, she seemed to hesitate.

It didn’t take long for them to reach the desktop, nor did it take long for Hailey to pull up the appropriate files. Soon, a picture of a man laughing in the direction of the camera was on the screen.

“That’s Tommy,” another click changed the picture to a video, “this is his last message.”

Ersa leaned closer, gently nudging Dean out of the way. He sent a questioning look towards her, one she didn’t see, before focusing his attention back on the computer.

“Hey, Hailey. Day six, We’re still out near Black Water Ridge. We’re fine, keeping safe, so don’t worry, okay? Talk to you tomorrow.”

The video ended, and Hailey let out a breath. Watching the last video a sibling sent before they went missing would be hard to go through, but she had just done it.

“We’ll find your brother. We’re heading out to Black Water Ridge first thing.” A glance showed that Sam’s eyebrows were furrowed, but not at his brother’s statement; he was still staring at the computer screen. Even as Hailey stood up, making her way past them, his eyes didn’t move.

“Then maybe I'll see you there.” Her steps took her to the other side of the table where she stopped beside her younger brother. She squared her shoulders as she looked at them.

Ersa straightened from where she had been leaning over the computer, looking at Hailey. Her eyebrows furrowed slightly.

At seeing the questioning glances Dean and Sam had given each other, Hailey continued, her voice strong and unrelenting.

“Look, I can’t sit around here anymore, so I hired a guide. I’m heading out in the morning, and I’m gonna find Tommy myself.”

Ersa couldn’t stop the small expression of surprise from crossing her face, but she had no idea why. Hailey had already proven that she was a person who wouldn’t take no for an answer when it came to the wellbeing of her brother. A trait that Ersa admired.

Dean’s voice came from her side, prompting her to look at him and discover the admiring look on his face as he nodded.

“I think I know how you feel.”

It didn’t take long for Ersa to realize that Dean probably did know how she felt; after all, their first meeting after many years had been fueled by his desire to find their dad. But he wasn’t the only one who understood Hailey and what she was going through.

“Hey, do you mind forwarding these to me?” Sam asked softly, motioning to the computer and the photos they had just seen.

“Sure.”

Silence had filled the house until Hailey motioned vaguely to the dishes on the table, looking at the three of them and telling them that they were welcome to stay for dinner. Dean had seemed a little too excited to take her up on the offer, however, after hearing both Sam and Ersa politely decline under the pretense of “needing to do a little research” he declined.

It didn’t take a rocket scientist to see that Dean had formed the smallest connection with Hailey. It could be seen in the soft looks he sent her way, even as they exited her house and got back into the Impala.

The entire drive to their next destination, there was a peculiar look and a faint smile on his face.

*****

Ersa couldn’t remember the last time she had gone to a bar. It was most likely because going to a bar alone didn’t seem as appealing to her. Add the fact that she was a young woman who was, in no way, looking for someone to entertain her, and she had a perfectly valid reason for not going to bars that often.

However, the bar that they currently were in was no different from the ones she had been to in the past. It had all of the tell-tale signs of a rugged bar; loud country music, the smell of booze and sweat mingling with other unknown smells, the sounds of rowdy conversations, the whole deal.

She had to lean forward to hear Sam’s voice, and he had to raise his voice just to be heard over the noise.

“So, Black Water Ridge doesn’t get a lot of traffic, local campers mostly. But still, this past April, two hikers went missing out there. They were never found.”

As he spoke, he pulled a few papers out of a small briefcase that rested on the table beside him. He flipped open a planner that had more paper in it, along with an attached notepad.

“Any before that?” Dean looked over all of the papers Sam had spread out, seemingly not surprised by the amount of research his brother had done.

“Yeah. In 1982, eight different people all vanished in the same year. Authorities said it was a grizzly attack.”

Ersa looked intensely at the newspaper Dean passed her way, quickly spotting the bolded heading “GRIZZLY BEAR ATTACKS” before setting it to the side as Sam pulled out yet another newspaper.

“And again in 1959, and again, before that, in 1936,” he lifted the screen of his computer and after a glance over, she could see Tommy’s smiling face on it, “every 23 years. Just like clockwork.”

The more Sam continued to show them what he found, the more invested Ersa became. She had already believed Hailey, but now, without a singular doubt, she knew something was going on.

“Okay, watch this. Here’s the clincher,” Sam pushed his laptop further into the center of the table, just far enough so that they could all see the screen, “I downloaded that guy Tommy’s video to the laptop. Check this out.”

The video played, with Sam continuously pressing the pause button, and there was one aspect that had Ersa leaning forward more, her eyes focusing intensely on the screen.

“Whatever the hell that was, it sure isn’t human.” She was confident as she spoke. Not even taking the speed into account, the silhouette of the creature didn’t even look human.

“Do it again.” Dean’s eyebrows furrowed, and he ducked his head to get a closer look. Sam repeated his actions from before, letting the video play before continuously pressing pause during the part where the silhouette appeared. He looked at his brother.

“That’s three frames. It’s a fraction of a second. Whatever that thing is, it can move.”

Sam played through the three frames once more, only to stop when Dean’s hand suddenly shot out and hit against his arm. Both Sam and Ersa quickly looked at him in question. He met their gazes with a small grin.

“I told you something weird was going on.” Sam let out a quick breath at Dean’s words, closing his laptop.

“Yeah. I got one more thing. In ‘59, one more camper survived the supposed Grizzly attack. Just a kid- barely crawled out of the woods alive.” He handed Dean a piece of newspaper.

“Is there a name?”

Sam looked between the two of them, a small, knowing smile on his face. Dean sighed and nodded. The sound of keys filled the air.

“Alright. Well...I think it’s best we go pay-” he glanced down at the paper in his hands, his eyes quickly moving across the words, before he looked up, “Mr. Shaw a visit.”

*****

If she hadn’t known any better, she’d have thought that they had stepped out of a bar and driven right to another one.

It hadn’t been hard to find Mr. Shaw's address, but it had been a little challenging to keep her facial expression as neutral as it could get when they stepped inside of his apartment after introducing themselves.

The smell of liquor was there, along with the smell of cigarette smoke, and the unmistakable smell of expired food. A few more steps past the front door only confirmed her suspicions; while things were they should have been, the conditions of the room were...not the best. She could see that, despite the majority of the apartment being shrouded in darkness.

“Look, Ranger, I don’t know why you’re asking me about this. It’s public record. I was a kid.”

As he spoke, Eras could see both Dean and Sam looking around the apartment. Mr. Shaw continued walking into the next room before stopping with his back to them.

“My parents got mauled by a-”

“Grizzly?” Sam spoke up from his position in the connecting kitchen area, “ that’s what attacked them?”

The older man slowly reached up, taking the cigarette out of his mouth before slowly turning to face them. He nodded silently, not offering anything else. And when it became apparent that he wouldn’t say anything else, Dean stepped forward.

“The other people that went missing that year...those bear attacks, too?” At Dean’s words, Mr. Shaw lowered his gaze, his jaw working. At some point, he had put the cigarette back in his mouth, and it stayed there.

“What about all the people that went missing this year? Same thing?”

Mr. Shaw’s shoulders tensed as he barely spared a glance toward Dean. Ersa could practically see the wall the older man had built around himself.

“If we knew what we were dealing with, we might be able to stop it.” Now, as he turned, there was an acute humorous look on his face. He lowered the cigarette.

“I seriously doubt that. Anyways,” he shakily lowered himself into the wooden chair, “I don’t see the difference it would make. You wouldn’t believe me. Nobody ever did.”

His shoulders had sagged as if the mere mention of what had happened decades ago was weighing down on him right now. His eyes were focused on something far away as he spoke.

Ersa slowly walked closer to him, pulling out the chair in front of him and sitting on it. She waited until his eyes met hers.

“Mr. Shaw...I can assure you that we will. You’d be surprised at what we’ve seen while being rangers.” She had been so close to saying the word “hunters” but had caught herself at the last second. Luckily, the man hadn’t noticed, his wary gaze on her.

Sam’s soft footsteps sounded through the air as he slowly approached the table that they were seated beside. He slowly sat on said table, lowering his head until his gaze was leveled with Mr. Shaw’s.

“Mr. Shaw...what did you see?” His voice was soft as he questioned the man. Despite the softness of his voice, Mr. Shaw still looked, well, terrified. His eyes flickered from Sam to Ersa, who gave him a nod and an encouraging grin. He sighed.

“Nothing. It moved too fast to see. It hid too well. I heard it, though. A roar...” His voice grew rougher as he continued, and his eyes had focused on one spot near the ground. The atmosphere had grown darker, and not in the physical sense. They all sensed it and glanced slowly at each other. He continued, and it only seemed to get darker.

“...Like no man or animal I ever heard.” His eyes glistened with tears or maybe it was just pure terror at reliving the moments that could have possibly had a grip on his mind ever since they happened.

“It came at night?” Mr. Shaw nodded at Sam’s question.

“Got inside your tent?” Sam’s next question made him pause for a second before his eyes widened following the next words out of his mouth.

“It got inside our cabin.” This one piece of information made a chill run down Ersa’s spine, and she sat up more. She took a deep breath as he continued.

“I was sleeping in front of the fireplace when it came in. It didn’t smash a window or break the door...it unlocked it.”

The last words he spoke affected all three of them, as they fidgeted slightly. Ersa didn’t know about Sam or Dean, but in moving around, she was trying to ignore the way his words had made goosebumps appear on her entire body.

“Do you know of a bear that could do something like that? I didn’t even wake up until I heard my parents screaming.” At the mention of his parents, Ersa froze, her hands in the process of gripping the sides of the chair she sat on.

“It killed them?” Sam asked the question, but they all knew the answer before Mr. Shaw had even spoken.

“Dragged them off into the night. Why it left me alive...I’ve been asking myself that ever since.”

Sam’s head dropped slightly, his eyes finding a spot on the floor to stay on. Not only was there grief in Mr. Shaw’s voice, but there was guilt. Survivor’s guilt, to be more specific. Ersa had seen it enough times to recognize it; she had lived it enough times to empathize with him.

“It did leave me this, though.”

They all watched the man pulled his robe and shirt aside only to reveal 4 long, massive marks that had either been made by Kreuger himself, or whatever had attacked Mr. Shaw and his family. Even after all of these years, the marks were still very apparent.

He slowly pulled his clothes to cover the marks as he looked away. He took a shaky breath.

“There’s something evil in those woods. It was some sort of a demon.” The man was right...in a way.

The three of them knew that they weren’t dealing with a demon, but they were most definitely dealing with something that was pure evil.

*****

The conversation with Mr. Shaw had only made them more determined to find out what was out there, tearing families apart by literally dragging them elsewhere, maiming people. As soon as they had bid goodbye to Mr. Shaw and started walking to the exit, they had started talking amongst themselves, throwing out theories.

“Spirits and demons don’t have to unlock doors. If they want inside, they just go through the walls.”

“So it’s probably something else- something corporeal.” Without missing a beat or a step, Dean turned to Sam, one eyebrow raising.

“‘Corporeal’? Excuse me, professor.” Ersa glanced over her shoulder at the two of them but aimed her words at Dean.

“‘Corporeal’: something with a physical body.” Dean’s head quickly turned frontwards and he looked at Ersa’s back. She could hear a smile in his voice as he spoke.

“Great, I’m dealing with two spelling bee kids.”

“Shut up.” Sam and Ersa spoke in unison, and it wiped the smile off of Dean’s face rather quickly. However, it only made grins appear on their faces as they looked at each other quickly, before Ersa turned back around, intent on not bumping into anything.

“So, what do you think?”

Dean tilted his head, probably going over everything they had just learned.

“The claws, the speed that it moves, it could be a skinwalker-”

“Or a black dog.”

“-maybe a black dog,” Dean agreed with Ersa’s input, nodding when she chimed in, “whatever we’re talking about, we’re talking about a creature, and it’s corporeal, which means we can kill it.”

Dean paused, making sure to look pointedly at them as he copied the word they had used earlier. It prompted an eye roll from both of them and a soft laugh to fall from Ersa’s mouth. She reached out, gently patting Dean’s shoulder in a celebration.

“Aw, Dean learned a new word today. I think I have some stickers in the car.” A bark of laughter came from Sam at Dean’s expense, who jerked his arm out from under Ersa’s hand. He looked at her with a frown, but it slowly morphed into a grin that he couldn’t stop. Not only was it a grin, but it was a mischievous one.

“Just for that, you can be the first on watch duty.” Her eyebrows furrowed but the smile remained on her face. She crossed her arms.

“Watch duty?”

Dean’s smile grew and he looked between them before focusing back on Ersa once again. He walked forward until they were toed to toe.

“Watch duty. When we go camping.”

This time, it was Dean who laughed audibly, and it was because of the way Ersa’s face had dropped.

“Camping? Camping?” Dean turned, still laughing, and made his way down the hallway. Anyone could tell how self-satisfied he was by the way he practically skipped down the hallway.

Ersa was still rooted to the spot, her mind still trying to process the word “camping”, her eyes wide and blinking furiously.

Sam entered her vision a few seconds later, a soft smile on his face. His hand raised, gently landing on Ersa’s shoulder and squeezing reassuringly.

“I’ll take the first watch with you, don’t worry.”

She straightened her posture, took a deep breath, and pushed the thought of camping in the middle of nowhere without the proper supplies, all while hunting, or possibly being hunted, by the creature they were supposed to kill, all while worrying about a group of civilians and their safety-

Her voice was higher in pitch as she looked at Sam, her eyes even wider now.

“Camping?”

I hope you all liked this part!! I’m going to try my best to get part two written by next Thursday, but the holiday season is upon us and I’m rather busy! PLUS my birthday is Dec 23rd, so I’m going to be extra busy!

I hope you all are staying safe! For those who celebrate Christmas, Merry Early Christmas! For those who don’t celebrate Christmas, Happy Holidays!

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readyaiminquire · 4 years

Text

The Future as Vapor.

‘The semiotic phantoms, bits of deep cultural imagery that have split off and taken on a life of their own.’

William Gibson, The Gernsback Continuum.

I’ve been thinking a lot about time lately. Not wholly sure as to why, perhaps it’s because we’ve just moved from one year to another, and taking stock is only natural; or perhaps because of the peculiar nature of the year that has just ended, with its pandemic, lockdowns, and the many challenges and tragedies borne out of it. Perhaps my research and its focus on time and temporality makes me particularly vulnerable to this sort of introspection; perhaps I am just predisposed to it? Likely, it is a mixture of all of these, but I already digress from the main point I was making, which is, quite simply: I have been thinking a lot about time lately. I’d wager the year that has just been, and which doesn’t feel as if it has fully ended quite yet, has a lot to do with it. My soundtrack for 2020, if there was such a thing, has undoubtedly been vaporwave, dyschronous ‘trapped-in-a-loop’ music for a year where everything stood still: a semi-ironic haunting from the past with empty, tinny beats and retro-synths, just mangled enough to sound new, but not too mangled so as to lose its retro-80s soundscape. It is, as absurd as it sounds, Muzak with teeth. The ironic resurrection of a dead aesthetic, brought back with a vengeance and with a purpose.

Vaporwave gets its name from ‘vaporware’, software that never was. Vaporware is software that has been announced, sometimes even showcased, but which then disappeared into some development maelstrom and seemingly vanished from view. It is neither cancelled, proclaimed dead and left to rest in the pile of ‘what could have been’, but always kept alive – a zombified software – as a potential. Its nonexistence-with-a-side-of-potential is precisely what makes vaporware vaporware. What does vaporwave take from this? The music is a form of Muzak, seemingly generic elevator music perfect for blending into the background but never meant to be listened to. This implies a vaporware existence (existence in nonexistence; or rather nonexistence in existence), vaporwave has more to it than that. It is precisely its purposeful meaningless soundscape that gives vaporwave ability to critique. Often made up of repeating synth riffs, tinny beats, sometimes sounds or jingles reminiscent of 1980s and 1990s TV and radio commercials, it is not an accident that the genre has modelled itself on Muzak. It is an echo of a past that has long disappeared into memory, even into cultural memory; a haunting reminding its listeners of what was, through its twisted soundscape of an otherwise well-trodden cultural form. The genre is best described as music optimised for abandoned malls.

Vaporwave is the audial version of a ruin. Or rather, it is the erection of a folly among ruins, a means to highlight the absurdity of the action itself. Its soundscape exists as a reminder of a past that promised a future that has not appeared; its central thesis – if it were to have one – is that we live surrounded by the ruins of this future-that-never-was. Crucially, and this gets at the heart of the present predicament, we only live and operate among these cultural ruins strictly because we have been unable to reconfigure these cultural building blocks into something new. The ruined landscape of a future that never existed has only come to pass because it has not been replaced by the new. Instead, the orientation has shifted to focusing on the past in the present, not the future ahead of us. The emergence of vaporwave in the present is thus by no means a result of the pandemic, the lockdowns, and the perceived stalling of time as a result, but rather predates it. The pandemic has likely brought such feelings of standstill to the fore, but it by no means created it.

This essay was prompted by a post on Reddit. Paraphrasing, the posted said something to the effect of ‘I don’t want to play the video games from when I was a kid, I want to feel like I did when I played the video games from when I was a kid.’ This, again, gets at the heart of the predicament. That feeling many of us remember from the past is one we have not felt in a long time – myself included. Indeed, video games are a fantastic case study for this development. Using an example from my own experience: I remember when I first played World of Warcraft. I know, your mental image of me as the narrator just shifted substantially, but bear with me. The nature of a fluid massively multiplayer online roleplaying game (MMORPG) wasn’t new by the time WoW was released. Still, it had never been done quite so well: the graphics were fantastic (at the time…), the level of interaction, the fluidity and connectivity of the world, the social aspects and community building… the list goes on, but the software was an adventure, and I (and countless, millions of others) couldn’t get enough of it. It was an unrivalled experience in many ways. Nothing like it had existed before. It was a completely new cultural artefact. It invoked a sense of future-shock.

WoW is, in addition, an interesting example as its original (well almost original) game was re-released in 2019 to thunderous applause, and a community bracing itself for another nerdgasm. The re-release was undoubtedly popular, it was undoubtedly fun, but it wasn’t the same. The feeling that it evoked in the past was no longer there. The future-shock with which it had once been densely packed had melted into air. This disconnect has even been picked up by parts of the community. A debate has raged between players who wish for no changes to be made to the original, for it to be released in its ‘pure’ state (as some changes had been made around specific mechanics, bugs that were never ironed out originally had been, and so forth), and players who call not for a recreation of the original game, but a recreation of the feeling of the original game.

But this is the issue with nostalgia. The original feeling of something unique, the future-shock as it were (or what German historian Reinhard Koselleck called the Überraschung; lit. surprise) cannot by definition be re-created; it must be created anew, with something new. The tragedy faced in the present, then, is that the dominant form among popular cultural media is that of nostalgia: a harkening for past experiences not for the experiences themselves but for that feeling of wonder that came with them: the surprise when playing your first 3d video game, or when first using a smartphone, or at the choice of music on an iPod (not to mention that the songs never skipped if you bumped it!). In many ways, this sense of surprise and wonder has been lost, even if innovation has sped up. Computing is faster than ever. Technology is near-ubiquitous in some parts of the world, yet nothing new seems to come from it. It is the same experiences, but faster, or in higher fidelity – occasionally this even folds back unto itself: vaporwave being a prime example — the mockery of a past cultural form that is only made possible with new technologies and innovations. In short, for all this new potential, nothing new is created.

Much has been written on what has caused this predicament, be it Mark Fisher’s argument that the foundations for innovative cultural forms have all been eroded with the rise of neoliberal capitalism, Franco ‘Bifo’ Berardi’s analysis that the future has disappeared because social imaginaries have been eroded with the rise of global techno-capitalism, or indeed Fredric Jameson’s take that capital is too effective at rehabilitating the radically new. To varying degrees, these thinkers (and others) speak to the problem of nostalgia, specifically how the marketing of nostalgia is but a logical conclusion. In the present neo-liberal configuration, innovating is a risk, especially within the realm of culture and pop-culture. It is much safer, and more in line with the underpinning profit motive, to repackage and re-sell old cultural forms as nostalgia and pastiche: think of the Star Wars universe's resurrection yet again, or indeed the example above with the re-release of WoW.

‘Fine’, you say, ‘you’re right’, you concede, ‘but what’s the problem?’ you finally ask. The issue with nostalgia becoming one of the main pop-cultural articulations is that it reorients the present away from the future and towards a past long gone. A lack of future orientation, in turn, takes out much of the hope surrounding societal and cultural development and innovation. To frame this less abstractly: it is hardly news that scientific research and literature, typically in the form of science fiction, exist in a feedback loop. They both take inspiration from one another. Scientific breakthroughs lead to authors to push the boundaries of the imaginable, which in turn inspire scientists, engineers, and inventors to make science fiction science reality. In the words of William Gibson: ‘There are bits of the literal future right here, right now, if you know how to look for them. Although I can’t tell you how; it’s a non-rational process.’ Just think of how many present innovation and inventions we have already seen on shows like Star Trek. Lacking this future orientation, in short, invariably leads to a form of social and cultural stagnation. Let me be clear here: this is not a piece lamenting the ‘fall’ of some romanticised Western culture or some such nonsense. Instead, much of our present social, political and cultural order is underpinned by a futural orientation insofar as it is a belief in a future that drives engagement, innovation, and creativity; that creates future-shock. Why bother changing anything if ‘this is it’? It is precisely this process that ‘Bifo’ Berardi described as the slow cancellation of the future, and that the late Mark Fisher referred to when he asked, “Is there no alternative?”

When I say that nostalgia has become the dominant cultural form, this is what I mean. The conventional means of artistic productions have been subsumed under an unmoving profit motive. As a result, real, shocking, surprising innovation cannot take place. But I wish not to end it with such a conclusion, as merely pointing at a problem isn’t necessarily helpful. Instead, new & radically different forms of production must be discovered. Fredric Jameson calls such an exercise cognitive mapping, the process to resituate oneself in the cultural landscape and thus gain a new perspective. To continue a metaphor: to move out of the ruins and into new vistas to regroup, reshape, and ultimately rebuild. The first step is to realise the impasse faced, the second is to do something about it. This process can already be seen in some spaces, especially among grass-roots movements like the markers’ movement, citizen scientists, and other groups – be they tech-focused or artists’ collectives. What ought not be understated, on the other hand, is the importance of ensuring such a shift takes place, lest we end up reading our own collective epitaph:

‘[…]

And on the pedestal, these words appear:

My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;

Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away.’

Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley, 1818.

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whispersafterdusk · 4 years

Text

Lost in Time - ch 14

It'd been four days since their tussle with the spy; they hadn't heard or seen any hint of them, and so far the only injury that had turned up at Xu's clinic had been a woman who had fallen on a bit of wood. Asher had gone into town long enough to get his broken tooth pulled (front right tooth on the top...he looked like a doofus when he smiled now) and had immediately returned to camp to hunker down and wait out the spy's next visit while the Civil Corps members had gone on a manhunt across the marsh and into the neighboring desert area.

So far, nothing.

They'd briefly discussed the suits again; Eli couldn't make up her mind on whether this Access suit thing was an original (less worrying) or if Duvos had figured out how to piece one together (really worrying). Asher shared her worries -- the thought of Duvos mass producing those things for their soldiers, even if they weren't working like they did in Eli's time, would still pose a huge problem if the continent ever went to war again. ((Continued below cut))

He did know she'd given up on the trail cameras for now but she was still working on something out in the tent; it used a lot of the same pieces that she'd set aside for the cameras but also several new, different ones that she'd sent Petra and Selene after. The centerpiece of these new additions was a detached screen that she'd marked out dimensions on - she was either cutting it down to size and needed the middle-most section or she was dividing it into a rectangle and eight smaller squares that were all roughly the same size. She hadn't done anything with the screen yet aside from measuring and marking out those squares but there were small piles of nigh identical looking chips, boards, and wires that were already assembled and sitting in a neat little line on the rubberized canvas under her cot that he assumed had to be put together first before the screens could be attached to them.

It had been a fascinating sight to watch her work with such tiny components; he hadn't had a chance yet to ask her what those things were (interrupting her while she was working on them seemed like a poor idea since it looked so...fragile, in a way) but he was looking forward to seeing the finished product, learning what the gadgets were for, and why she needed so many of them. It also piqued his curiosity about Old World tech in general; so much of it seemed purposely designed to work with pretty much anything else. Maybe Old World technology didn't so much depend on the parts as it did the programs to run it...which in turn made him wonder, assuming they ever got to a point where they knew how to read and create new programs, if all the old relics could be made to work again like they did back then rather than being pieced together with spotty knowledge and prayers.

Behind him Adam, Arlo, and Eli were all asleep inside the tent with the front flaps pulled closed to block out as much of the unusually plentiful sunlight as possible - there wasn't a cloud in the sky and it was considerably warmer today than it had been lately; he appreciated the warmth and imagined his sleeping companions probably did as well but found himself going back and forth on whether he was truly grateful for the "sunny" part of this sunny day. On the one hand, that suit made the spy near-invisible but not intangible so they should still cast a shadow so if the spy was dumb enough to try sneaking in close in broad daylight Asher was hopeful he would spot that before they got close enough to be a danger. On the other hand he doubted they would actually be that stupid. The constant prickle at the back of his neck - the feeling of being watched - wasn't a sensation Asher enjoyed, and it also wasn't something he was used to experiencing for such a prolonged period of time; he had no proof though that he WAS being watched, and that was probably bothering him more than the prickling was.

The grumpy sigh he huffed out whistled a bit as it exited through the gap his missing tooth had left behind; that annoyed him to no end too. Asher didn't consider himself an overly vain person but damn it he'd liked how he looked; it had taken a couple years to be at peace with the sunken in scar across his nose but at least that made him look...adventurous. Dashing. Daring. A missing tooth made him look like a drunkard, and it would be a long trip to Seesai to get a replacement that wouldn't prematurely discolor. Adam was right in that he could easily get a tooth closer to home but, again, discoloration was a problem -- whatever that woman in Seesai did to keep the false teeth from coloring was a closely guarded secret...no one knew what she did or what recipe she used, not even her family if they were to be believed.

He supposed it was a question of if he wanted to look stupid with his tooth gap or look stupid with a yellowed tooth in a few years. Neither thought was especially attractive and brought with it a sort of helpless frustration that, coupled with the prickling feeling of having eyes on him, made him want to get up and move around to burn off the pent up energy and emotion.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of rustling grass; before he could truly react to the sound Eli came into view and he relaxed slightly.

"You're up - uh, early. Or however you want to consider it."

She shrugged as she sat down on one of the rocks ringing the firepit. "Eh, it happens. Sometimes you just don't sleep."

"Any new ideas?"

For a time she didn't respond; silently Asher surveyed their surroundings - everything still seemed to be as it ought to be. He still felt twitchy though...he was ready for action, or for anything that wasn't sitting here keeping watch. Maybe with Eli awake he could exercise or something.

"Not really," Eli finally responded. "I can think of twelve different ways to disable that suit but they all require tech that doesn't exist anymore. And it's not something I could put together from stuff that's left here."

Asher nodded, then glanced back toward the tent; when she'd come out she'd left the tent flaps open and he could barely detect movement inside -- Arlo shouldn't be up for awhile yet but it was looking like Adam was waking up. "So what's all that stuff you've been working on then?"

"Hi-Defs."

"I've no idea what those are."

"They're wrist-mounted computers. A lot of their functionality isn't going to work right in this day and age but back in mine they were onboard guidance systems with maps of all the regions, could make and receive calls, they kept track of addresses and your appointments and bank accounts and whatever else you wanted to track, they could project 3D images, take pictures... They could do a lot of things depending on the model you had."

He blinked at her; only half of that had sunk in as he'd gotten a bit hung up on the concept of a wrist-mounted computer. "Really? Why those then? If they're not going to work right, I mean. What will they even be able to do?"

"I want them mostly for communication and maps of this region. I'd need signal transmitters in some strategic areas but once I get it all tethered to the facility they should work. It's going to take a lot of footwork to get maps updated since it'll have to be manual scanning rather than satellite surveillance...or, hmm. Maybe some satellites survived." She paused for a moment, then shook her head. "Nah, shouldn't rely on that. Arlo mentioned there's a space station segment out in the wastes but even if there's enough left there to scavenge I doubt I could get a link going with anything that might be left up there, and even if I managed it I still wouldn't have a way to issue orders or anything like that." There was another pause and a sigh, and a wistful glance toward the sky before she returned her attention to him. "Mine will be the sort of central control for them all outside of whatever computer station I decide to run them off of. My aim is to give them to anyone involved with the security of this facility."

"Huh." Him with a high tech device...not something he'd considered before. The idea was...kind of exciting, to be honest. "So maps and talking to one another. Is that all we can hope for?"

"Communication and map display is, bare minimum, what I'm aiming for, with maybe a basic calendar and clock function. I'll have a look at what I can immediately do once I've server-flashed Pauline and get at least one transmitter up for testing."

"...and you've lost me. What's a server-flash?"

She laughed quietly. "-right. It's hard to determine what terms survived the years and what didn't - with Petra and Merlin it's at least a 50% shot that I don't have to define something for them. So! Server-flashing. I take the main operational files for an AI and do a sort of...quick copy of their foundation. Pauline's an AI but not a living AI so I don't need to worry about her personality or anything, just the uh...the semi-intelligent framework she runs on."

"Yeah, going to need that taken down a few degrees still. Pauline seems just as smart as Stewart but she doesn't have personality?"

"Nope. She's just a regular assistant AI -- a sort of input-output response machine with just enough programmed intelligence to appear sentient but she can't learn or grow as a...uh...well, not as a "person" exactly but she -- she won't ever change. She just is what she is. AIs like her you could make infinite copies of and they'll never, ever stop being identical copies unless something on the outside alters them. Stewart on the other hand, if I were to make a copy of him, that copy would develop its own personality if given enough time to learn and live and the same would happen with a regular living AI."

That...sort of made sense. At least, it was simple enough that he could grasp it without her needing to explain it more in-depth. "And you're going to use her to run the Hi-Defs."

"After some minor reprogramming yes."

He nodded slowly; having a little, easily accessed map right on his wrist would be neat, even if it was just of Portia. And if it worked well here maybe it could be expanded out into the other cities and nations too...and, oh man, would that make mapping the Peripheries way easier too if all they had to do was walk through it with the Hi-Def recording or whatever it did to create the maps -- suddenly he could think of all sorts of possibilities and perks to having one of the things. "What would be the range on these things? How would they figure out and store maps?"

"Range depends on what kind of signal strength I can get. Hi-Defs have their own localized signals so they'll all be able to 'talk' to one another within a certain range, and also interface with the signals coming from the transmitters at a much wider range. I'm pretty sure I'd only need sixteen or so at some key points to cover all of Portia and a bit of the outlying areas. As for updating or creating maps it'll have to be manual scanning -- someone is going to have to start from an already mapped point and then let the Hi-Def scan the territory as you travel through it. It'll take awhile but the program that runs a Hi-Def is robust enough to piece it all together without too much extra work needed. And they have their own onboard storage to hold it all."

"Neat...and amazing." As a more comfortable silence fell Asher tossed a few thick branches onto the fire and nudged them into place with a blackened, straight branch he'd purposely kept as a sort of log poker. If Adam was stirring too then he should probably get the fire's heat evened out so he could start cooking. "Did you end up camping a lot as a ranger?"

"Yeah. I went camping for fun too."

He carefully poked at the fire for a moment. "...do you miss doing that?"

There was a long pause before she answered. "I miss a lot of things."

Asher winced a bit. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked that."

She shook her head and flashed him a strained smile. "Nah, don't be afraid to ask things. The funny thing with pain is the more you experience it, the easier it is to tolerate."

"I don't think it works that way with this kind of...you know."

With a shrug she turned to pick up the cooking kit (which was in a large leather satchel that had seen better days) that was off to the side of the firepit. "Works well enough for now. I don't want you guys walking on eggshells around me, and I can't hide from it forever. Hell, I can't hide from it even if I wanted to."

Asher was quiet as she handed the satchel over; he pulled the kettle out and stood to go fill it from the water barrel they'd installed just inside the tent flaps, then came back and sat it among the coals to start boiling. A feeling of guilt had settled like a rock in his stomach -- that had been such a stupid thing to ask her. "If you ever want to...talk, or something. I'll listen."

The smile she gave him this time was less strained. "I know. It's appreciated."

As he bent to re-arrange a few half-burned logs she got up and walked out of his immediate line of sight; behind him somewhere he heard Adam's low voice and then the man's plodding footsteps as he came over and took Eli's place on the rock. Asher just managed to catch the sight of Eli disappearing into the tent as he glanced back but she quickly came back into view a moment later.

"I'll be back in a bit - I need to grab a few things from town." She had her pack slung over a shoulder but it hung limp and empty. "Don't bother cooking for me."

"All right. If you're sure," Asher replied.

"I am." With that she began to jog toward the path that, eventually, led back into Portia.

Asher watched her go and then sighed heavily, looking over to Adam. "You ever feel like a massive idiot sometimes?"

"Sure," Adam grunted. "Then I remember I'm not you and feel better."

Asher rolled his eyes and resisted the urge to whack the man with the fire poker stick; when he didn't rise to the man's banter Adam gave him a strange look.

"What did you do?"

"Nothing. I think. How do you want your eggs this time?"

------------------------------------------------------

Dr. Xu had acquired a wooden chair with a really comfortable cushion and a small wooden table for Harrison to work at; it sat in the corner near the front doors so it would be out of the way of everything else in the clinic but its position did mean that usually, when someone walked inside, Harrison was the first thing they saw. Already several tourists looking for headache or muscle ache cures had approached him at the table to ask after the medications, even when Dr. Xu was clearly within view at his desk further in the room.

He kept telling himself to find humor in the situation but it was starting to get a little annoying - especially after someone actually moved a stack of books out of the way to "speak to him" with Xu staring on in surprised confusion.

It was enough to have him dreading the sound of the doors opening, and so today when they slid open he actually flinched and carefully peered over the top of the book he had propped up in front of him.

To his surprise it was that girl from days ago - the one who had fallen on the driftwood and gotten it through her arm. She looked bright eyed and chipper, with no other obvious injuries, and he inwardly groaned as she looked around, spotted him, and came right over.

"Hey there!"

"Hello. How's the arm healing up?"

She smiled and slipped her coat off, then pulled her sleeve up to show the bandage there. "It's all fine and dandy - itchy, but doesn't seem infected or anything."

"Well, that's good." He went silent as she pulled her sleeve back down and got her coat back on, then cleared his throat awkwardly. "So...what did you need then?"

"Ah, hello there -- how is the arm?"

Harrison sat up a bit straighter as Xu came over; the girl gave the doctor a smile.

"It's all good. A bit itchy but seems to be healing."

Xu nodded. "Excellent to hear. Now, what brings you back to the clinic?"

The girl's smile faltered a bit and Harrison swore he saw a tinge of pink appear in her cheeks. "Ah...well, uh, I came to um. Talk to him, actually-"

She pointed shyly to Harrison, and he blinked at her in confusion. Talk to him? Why?

Xu seemed just as confused as he was. "Oh?"

"Yeah...um, private matter."

"Huh?" Harrison blurted out.

She turned her attention back to him and rubbed at her injured arm awkwardly. "Um. If you have the time, anyway."

"S-sure, I guess."

He stood up and came out from behind the table; the girl took a few timid steps toward the door and when he followed along she headed outside into a much brighter day than Harrison had been expecting.

He raised a hand to shield his eyes and looked over to her. "What did you need to talk to me about? Did I do something wrong with your injury?"

She shook her head, hard; it was hard enough to dislodge a few wisps of hair from the messy bun on top of her head. "No no nonono, nothing like that. I was just um, wondering if you'd...like to go get coffee or lunch sometime?"

With that the woman stood there, lightly scraping the toe of her shoe into the mud; Harrison felt like someone had abruptly switched off all the lights inside his brain. She wanted to go get coffee, with HIM?

"Uh..."

"It's ok if you don't want to," she went on in a rush. "I don't mind. You're probably busy. I shouldn't have asked."

"N-no, no, it's-" Harrison interrupted. "Ah - no one has ever asked that before. I think my brain shut off." He offered her a weak, slightly sheepish smile, and to his surprise she returned it. "But...why me?"

"I...dunno. You're from Lucien, like me. I don't meet a lot of Lucien natives when I travel around. And, you're. Um. You know...cute, so I thought, why not?"

Now it felt like his ears were on fire. "A-ah," was all he could say.

An awkward silence fell and it went on entirely too long for Harrison's liking; he was hoping she would say something...he wasn't sure WHAT, but he wanted to hear SOMETHING, anything, that would take the burden of this conversation off him until his brain caught up.

"So..."

"Ah, uh, yeah, um, sure," he said finally. "I-I mean, if you're sure."

The girl's face brightened and she bounced on the balls of her feet for a moment. "Hee! Yay! Ok, so when are you next free?"

"Later this evening?" he offered.

She nodded. "All right then - later this evening. Down at that restaurant in the square? The knight one?"

Harrison nodded, feeling lightheaded; he completely missed what she said as she waved and then headed off down the hill. Too late he returned the wave, and then leaned against the clinic doors behind him.

"What...just happened..." he muttered, rubbing at his forehead.

He, Harrison, had a date tonight.

...wait, did she ever even give her name?

"Oh boy..."

---------------------------------------------------

"Haven't seen you in a bit," Django said as Eli walked through the door.

With all the afterimages swimming around (it was REALLY bright outside today) Eli could barely see him, and somewhat stumbled her way toward the counter. "Been helping the Pigs out at the facility."

"Ah, that'd be it."

She managed to find a stool and sat down. "I had to come back for some supplies and I'd like to take some treats out to the them as a surprise."

Django nodded. "I see, hmm. I just pulled an apple pie out of the oven, and I've got some Black Forest cake made just this morning. Won't take long to whip anything else up either," he said as he flipped open a menu to the dessert section and slid it over to her.

"Thanks." She picked it up and held it in front of her; with the afterimages it'd probably be another minute or two before she could clearly read it. "Do you know if they've established any favorites?"

"I know Arlo doesn't really like sweets in general. I haven't talked to Asher or Adam enough to know about those two."

Eli frowned; good thing she'd asked. "All right, no sweets for Arlo then. I know he likes spicy things at least. How about...an order of vanilla pudding, some of that apple pie, and that spicy spaghetti stuff?"

"Sounds good."

As Django headed off toward the kitchen Eli folded the menu properly and returned it to the pile, then leaned forward to brace her elbows on the counter and put her forehead in her hands.

Every idea she'd had so far to disable that suit all required things that weren't around anymore; the easiest would be a localized EMP to overload the projector circuits and force it into a reboot cycle where it wouldn't be able to disguise its user until it fully restarted itself. A sliver shot would do similar in that it would disrupt the projectors by confusing its sensors with a quick burst of hard light mirror shards. Or she could use a taser overload, or a bolt drainer, or a sys-dis (a system disabler - it would scramble all the circuit signals), or even a battery overcharger. So many things she COULD do, if she was in her own time period...

But she wasn't, and simple ideas like trying to use water or some sort of paint or even dirt to try and short out or otherwise mark their target probably wouldn't work -- Access Suits had built in miniature shield generators evenly interspersed among the projector sensors that pulled double duty at repelling water as well as dirt, dust, or mud-like materials. She couldn't safely rely on the hope that those generators were as damaged as the faulty projectors; if they were working correctly they might get two seconds, tops, of visual assistance if they were to try and douse the spy in something...two seconds could seem like forever in a fight but since there was no telling what else that spy might be armed with by now Eli was not about to risk anyone around her with so many unknown variables (it was as much for the spy's safety as well as their own that they be able to clearly see what they were doing the next time they clashed - she'd hated firing blindly at the spy and it'd be a really simple matter for someone to accidentally kill someone else).

"Something the matter?"

Eli jumped at the sound of Django's voice just over her shoulder. "You walk really quietly when you want to."

Django chuckled as he moved back behind the counter; he had a few containers in hand that he neatly lined up on the counter in front of her. "Old habits I guess, haha. It'll be a few minutes on the spaghetti."

She slid her pack off her back and pulled a cloth bag out of one of the front pockets, then sat it on the counter; before she could say anything Django picked it up and began to slide the containers inside.

"It was an honest question though - something on your mind?"

Eli paused, then huffed out a sigh. "Just trying to figure out how to hunt down a ghost, is all."

Django's eyebrows raised a bit. "Wasn't aware we had a ghost problem outside of our haunted cave."

"Not a literal ghost," she replied, laughing quietly. "More like someone pretending to be one."

"I see. Not exactly your run of the mill problem to have."

With another sigh Eli rested her forehead on her hands again. "I'm not exactly a run of the mill person."

Django nodded slowly, rubbing at his chin. "...you know, how about we have a quick dart game while we wait on your spaghetti?"

There was something...odd, about his tone. Eli eyed him but couldn't detect anything other than his usual smiling demeanor -- he sounded off but looked fine.

"...all right," she answered, standing up and aside as he shuffled out from behind the counter and led the way toward the back game room.

There were a few others in the restaurant; Eli found herself waving at folks as she went and narrowly dodging Toby who was waving a report card at her (she made a mental note that there were only two more months for Toby to prove he'd kept his grades up enough for training) and then she was in the game room with Django already retrieving the darts from a drawer in the prize counter.

He didn't say anything at first as he handed her the three green darts while he kept the red ones. "So. Looking for a person pretending to be a ghost, you said?" Django lined up a dart and then tossed it a breath later; it landed right on the border between a bullseye and the next ring out.

Eli huffed then laughed quietly. "I feel like I'm about to lose. Terribly."

Django tossed another one and it landed squarely inside the bullseye. "I've had a lot of practice. Where's this ghost person lurking? Out at the facility?"

"...yeah," she answered after a pause. "We have an uninvited visitor out there."

The third dart he threw, to Eli's surprise, flew well off to the left and embedded itself into the thick safety backboard that the dartboard was mounted on. "When did this ghost show up?"

"Recently."

She watched silently as he went over and slowly took the darts down; when he was out of the way she took her first throw and it barely stayed within the board, embedding itself into a bottom right section that wasn't worth any points at all.

"Humor me. Was it someone you think is on the smaller, lighter side?"

"I...guess. Couldn't really get a good look at them, obviously." Rather than taking her second throw she turned around to face him; he'd moved over to lean against the prize counter's front, arms crossed over his chest and a somewhat brooding look on his face -- seeing something other than his usual cheerful expression immediately made her forget all about the dart game. "All right, spill: what are you getting at?"

Django inhaled and exhaled slowly. "Did Arlo tell you about that Rogue Knight we had, not too long ago?"

"Yeah, I've heard about it. He said you were the one who was able to drive them off too. You think this knight guy came back?"

He shook his head. "No, I don't think your visitor is the same Rogue Knight I fought that day. But you mentioning a ghost brought back some memories, from when I was younger. Of a different, more dangerous knight, in her own way."

Eli walked over and dropped her remaining darts onto the counter. "Are knights just a common thing now?"

"Not anymore. In the older days - meaning, the older days of our current era, between the Calamity and when humanity was finally recovering - folks took up the title of knight as they fought to protect their homes and people from both man and monster alike. Humanity didn't have much left back then...just a lot of old stories and memories of how things once were, but the legends that were even older than the Old World still managed to survive. Such stories helped keep the survivors alive, and while it's a tradition that's been mostly overwritten by the Civil Corps and other law enforcement nowadays, there's still a fair few of us who stick to those old stories and the honor that comes with claiming the title of knight."

Eli watched him as he spoke; the brooding look had given away to something more resembling a thoughtfulness - a softer, more introspective look, and as he talked his chin was slowly dipping down so his gaze ended up on the floor just in front of his feet.

"So..." she said quietly into the pause that followed. "Why did me mentioning a ghost make you think of another knight?"

Django finally lifted his gaze and flashed her a grim smile. "I drove that Rogue Knight off with the belief that he wouldn't dare step foot here again. I still believe that, in fact. But I've been on my guard for any hints of other troublesome knights that might show up to try and finish the job he left undone. It just so happens that I know of a woman who called herself the Ghost Knight -- I knew her when I was a younger man. We even fought together a few times to clear out monster nests or drive off bandits."

Eli's eyes widened. "You're kidding."

"I wish I were. You mentioning you were looking for someone pretending to be a ghost brought her to mind."

"Who is she? What's she look like? Why would she be here?"

"I don't know. I never learned her real name, and she never learned mine. I never even saw her face - only the strange suit of armor she wore. As for why she's here-"

"Is she a mercenary for hire?" Eli interrupted. "What - how did - how do knights function?" At his mildly surprised look she slumped her shoulders a bit. "Sorry - didn't mean to interrupt you."

Django chuckled and pushed off from the counter, moving to line up to throw his darts again. "Not a problem. I can only guess at why she'd be here -- same reason the Rogue Knight was, I wager. I wouldn't call her a mercenary...that's not what we did. But, it's been over a decade since I last spoke with her, and people can change."

Eli shifted and leaned against the counter almost in the same spot he'd just vacated, putting him and the dartboard at her back as she stared a hole into the wood in front of her; if this person was this Ghost Knight that Django had known years ago then that meant it was a good chance that this spy's having an Access Suit was just...a one-off. One person who got their hands on something that actually still worked. That was one fear off the list, at least.

"Django... How did this woman fight? What did she do as the Ghost Knight?"

"Scouting," came his answer, quicker than she'd expected. There was the sound of the dart thunking into the board before he continued. "No one was better at it than her. And in a battle she was the best flanking attacker you could hope to have on your side."

"Flanking... Does that mean she didn't take people on in a direct manner?"

"She avoided that as much as possible but she was still capable of defending herself if she had to." Another thunk of a dart. "Can I ask you a favor?"

"Sure."

She turned around from the counter in time to see Django turning as well, flicking his wrist and sending the dart at the board without looking or aiming; the dart stuck into the bullseye.

"If you find this person, and manage to capture them, I would like to speak to her."

"I... I mean, I'M willing to let that happen, but I'm not a Civil Corps person. That's not likely up to me."

Django nodded, slipping his hands into the pockets of his colorful coat. "If you can make that happen, I'd be indebted to you... Excuse me, I should go check the spaghetti. It ought to be done by now."

"Yeah, sure thing. I'll head back up to the counter."

He disappeared through a small door into the kitchen and, as she said, Eli walked out of the game room and back to the counter where the rest of her order was sitting packed neatly into the cloth sack.

She looked over a shoulder at the restaurant's patrons; there were considerably more people here now than had been when she'd first walked in, and Django had purposely wanted to talk to her about it away from others. She really, really wanted to ask him more about how this Ghost Knight woman fought, or where she'd come from, or--

'I'll come back when it's not busy, or maybe I can catch him at home.'

That he'd admitted he'd been on the lookout for any other trouble-making knights worried her...maybe she should also split her history lesson time between Isaac and Django.

------------------------------------------------

"Bye, see you tomorrow!"

Django gave Sonia a small wave and a smile as she headed out the front door; there were a few spots left to sweep and then he could put out the lights and head home himself.

Normally he enjoyed the absolute silence of the restaurant late at night - it gave him time to daydream, or plan for the next day's operations. Tonight though... He couldn't help but think of that Ghost Knight. Everything he could recall about her had come flooding back in a rush when Eli had mentioned someone pretending to be a ghost; any other time he would have dismissed it as silly old memories but now...

He bent and swept up dirt into the dustpan, and then moved to carry it over to the waste bin.

Ever since he'd driven that rogue knight off he'd been constantly vigilant for any hint, no matter how small, that someone else had arrived to plunge Portia into chaos. He imagined most people would think he was being paranoid without reason and so had kept such worries to himself...maybe he shouldn't have done that. Portia's residents had been panicked at first and demanding more protections from the Civil Corps folks after the knight incident but, as time wore on, they'd fallen back into their lives without fear of outside threats; would anything be different now if Django had shared his worries with Gale?

"Too late for that," he muttered to himself.

He swept up the last little dust pile and dumped it into the bin, then went to put the dustpan and broom away.

Once everything but a single lamp was powered down he dipped behind the front counter; for the most part he stored napkins, silverware, and small dessert plates behind here but after that Rogue Knight had left he'd started stashing a small box out of sight behind the formal cloth napkins that were only used during holidays.

The box was about the length of his hand from fingertips to the heel of his palm, and was just barely shy of being perfectly square. Django popped the latch open and lifted the lid to reveal a delicate-looking pair of gloves made of silvery wires, each with a single wire that was much longer than the others that ended in a tiny plug; they were very hard to see among the loose cloth that padded the inside of the box, and he knew from experience that even when worn they were difficult to spot.

As he looked the gloves over he had his usual mixed feelings about them; hidden beneath his shirt and jacket were a pair of matching armbands hugging his biceps that had very small charge generators on it -- wearing the gloves with the lead wire plugged in allowed him to charge up and release a controlled shock that went off with a bang, a bright flash of light, and repelled anything he hit along with delivering a strong sting to his target.

Much like the memories of the Ghost Knight now all his memories of having found these relics came rushing back; he'd once been a young, stupid man, with lofty ideals about what it meant to be a knight without truly understanding anything about knighthood. He'd thought that finding these gloves had been the ultimate stroke of luck -- something to make him an unstoppable force of good in the world. He'd been hilariously proven wrong, over and over, until he began to treat them as tools to compliment his own skill, rather than relying entirely on them.

When he finally understood what the gloves true purpose ought to be he began to win more often and eventually they had earned him the title of Storm Knight; when he'd realized that his dependence on them had basically shaped his reputation he had almost thrown them away. The fear that someone else would make the same mistakes he did (or worse - that someone would use them to harm others) had made him keep them, and steadily he relied on them less and less over the years until he'd mothballed them five years before he retired. The Rogue Knight had been threat enough that Django had felt the need to take the gloves out of storage and thankfully with them - and with his reputation - that had been enough to scare the knight off.

The problem with this Ghost Knight was Django knew reputation alone wouldn't drive her away. She had fallen into the same pitfalls he had: thinking that Old World technology made her invincible, or at the very least better than everyone else. Rather than learning and improving she had stagnated...and he'd watched it happen.

"You could have been one of the best..." he sighed, closing the box and tucking it under an arm.

She really could have been...maybe he should have fought her harder on her reliance on that suit. Maybe she would have listened if he'd fully explained his own mistakes with the gloves. Maybe he could have trained with her to show her there was a more honorable way of living. But then again, maybe there wasn't some magical combination of words that would have swayed her to his side and stopped her from getting mad and literally stabbing him in the back.

As he headed to the front door he reached his free hand around to rub at a spot on his lower back. That old scar ached and itched when it was cold or wet outside but it was an old wound he'd learned to ignore; tonight it was a dull throbbing pain - probably exacerbated by the sweeping, or so he told himself before pausing to really examine that thought.

There used to be an old wives tale about how an injury caused by a mortal enemy would burn and ache when that enemy was nearby. The Ghost Knight had been his companion once...he didn't think for a moment that they could be friends again but he could spare a bit of hope that the old tale was true and that he would know exactly when he was needed if it was truly her in the region.

#Lost in Time #lit #Lost in Time - ch 14 #Dr. Xu #Django #My Time at Portia

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lunathewafflelord · 4 years

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Had a dream the Shadow Triad was added to Masters and so was Kurt (the Apricorn guy).

But that wasn’t all.

I was looking through all of N’s lines in Masters and there was a whole bunch of lines that mentioned various characters who were also in the game. There was one that he’d say if you hadn’t used Ramos in a while (has anyone ever used Ramos in the first place?). He also had lines where he mentioned people he met on his journey and there was one where he said that he’s still mad at some girl (can’t remember her name). Then I decided to try and find out who said girl was.

And in said dream I was planning out a video on my top five favorite and top five least favorite Pokémon Masters models and N was in my least favorites because I didn’t like how they modeled his face but it was more of a dis-honorable mention than an actual place on the list. I still love N’s 3D model, but his face just looks... off. It’s hard to explain what the problem with it is, though. But I was so happy to see N in 3D (not counting MMD models)

In the dream I had woken up from my dream and went into the kitchen to get some almond milk and my cat walked up to me and was purring which is something that frequently happens to me in real life. This was when I was planning out said video, and I began to speak aloud rather than think to myself. I then wondered why I was talking out loud instead of thinking. I believe at this point it was becoming a lucid dream, in which I was able to control myself, but I wasn’t aware it was a dream.

The reason I was looking through all of N’s quotes was because I wanted to see if there were any quotes that could be supporting the theory that N is autistic and I said “maybe the fact that N has a great memory could be considered one”, and I think me saying that is what triggered the quotes about N remembering a lot of people he met.

I still want to know who that girl was and why N was mad at her.

This was another case of having one big dream and many smaller ones that connect together in some way. And I kept switching back and forth between them.

#n #n pokemon #dream #dream I had #Luna’s Pokemon dreans #pokemon related dream

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eldritchsurveys · 4 years

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1055.

How often do you watch the news? >> I don’t watch it at all.

Would you rather read the news online? >> When I do want to find out about something, I do just look it up online. But mostly I avoid all mention of current events as often as possible. I have really received no benefits from knowing as much about what’s going on in the world as the internet wants me to, and I think just knowing what’s going on locally (as in, the actual state I live in, with references to federal stuff when needed) is good enough. The internet has provided me with many wonderful things; too much knowledge about every awful thing going on at all times at every point on the globe (or even every point in this country) is not one of those things.

Speaking of being online, what website do you visit the most? >> This one, I guess. I end up on it at some point every day.

Have you ever shopped online? >> Yes.

Have you ever held a snake? >> I’ve touched one, but not held one.

Ever caught a turtle? What about a crawfish? >> I’ve picked up a turtle that I saw in my backyard when I was a preteen. I’ve never held a live crawfish.

Have you ever eaten gumbo? >> Yes.

Or do you not like spicy food? >> Oh, I love spicy food.

What about sweet food? >> I prefer sweetness as a balancer -- like, sweet and spicy is excellent, sweet and savoury, sweet and sour... all good. When I eat fruit, I usually like to eat it with other things like crackers and cheese. Flavour complexity is my jam.

Are the Sour Patch Kids commercials funny? >> Meh. They’re commercials, so I hate them on principle.

Do you own a bottle of hand sanitizer? Do you like how it smells? >> I have some in the car because Lazarus Naturals sent me a free bottle of their lemon-scented sanitiser once with my CBD order. It smells nice, and it’s handy to have, so I kept it. I don’t usually like hand sanitisers, though.

Do you own a pool table? What about an air hockey table? Or a foosball table? >> No.

Do you live with your parents? Are you cool with that? >> I do not live with a parent and I am very happy with that.

When did/when do you want to move out? >> I left home at seventeen. I went back a couple of times, but it was never a long-term arrangement.

Have you ever been on a cruise? >> No.

Have you ever played frisbee? >> No.

Are you better at catching or throwing? >> Uh.

Did you donate to the Haiti relief fund? >> No.

Did you do so with your cell phone? >> ---

Have you ever seen Scare Tactics? Would you ever put your friend on that show? Would they totally kill you? >> I’ve no idea what you’re talking about.

Speaking of killing things... have you ever hit an animal with your car? Did you ever go back and check if it was okay? >> I don’t drive.

What game systems do you own? >> We have a 360, a PS4, a Wii, a Switch, a 3DS, a Vita, and of course our computers and phones.

Do you ever play computer games? >> I usually play computer games.

Do you have a wireless mouse? What about a laser mouse? >> Sparrow has the wireless mouse I used to use. I use a wired one now.

Do you wear polos? >> No.

Did you used to have a lunchbox? >> In elementary, yes.

How often do you/did you bring your lunch to school? >> I always had to bring my lunch to school when I was a child because school food ran counter to my father’s diet (and I didn’t start being able to choose my food until high school).

What was/is your favorite school lunch? >> ---

When was the last time you wore a hat? What kind of hat was it? >> Yesterday. Just a regular floppy beanie.

Do you wear hats often? >> No, just when it’s cold. I didn’t even wear the hat for that long yesterday, because I run hot and it has to be way colder than like 40 degrees for me to really need to bundle up.

Have you ever seen Ghost Hunters? Do you think it's all fake? >> Never seen it, don’t care about it.

Have you ever tried to ghost hunt? If so, did you catch anything? >> No.

What room are you sitting in? Are you comfy? >> My bedroom. Yes.

Do you prefer gold or silver? What about diamonds or pearls? Earrings or bracelets? Necklace or rings? Or are you not a jewelry person? >> Gold, neither, earrings, no preference. I like jewelry but I’m very particular about it.

Have you ever made jewelry? >> When I was a kid. Oh, and I made kandi a few times with Sigma back in those days.

Do you have any unique hobbies? >> No.

Have you ever put together a model airplane? What about a model car? >> I put together a model car with my father once as a kid.

Do you have a beanbag chair? What about a futon? How about a popasan chair? Or are all those words pretty much a foreign language to you? >> I don’t know what a popasan chair is, but I do not own a beanbag chair and I no longer sleep on a futon (thank god).

Have you ever broken a window? If so, what with? >> No.

Have you ever had surgery? If so, what on? >> No.

Would you date a handsome mariachi player who never stopped playing? >> No........

Do you know any boys named Ashley or Lesley or Lynn? >> No.

Do you have a thermos? >> No.

Do you prefer coffee or hot chocolate? >> Coffee.

Do you like green tea? >> I love green tea.

Do you like to play Freecell? What about Hearts? Or Mahjong? >> Nah, not anymore.

Is there a wicker basket in the room? How about an empty bowl? >> No.

Do you like cheetos? Do you lick your fingers after eating them? >> I hate Cheetos.

Have you ever fed the birds? >> Yes.

Did it cost tuppence a bag? >> ???

Do you know where that line is from? >> I do not, and this is the second survey I’ve had reference it in recent memory. Eventually I’ll just look it up.

Does your family own guns? >> I do not own a gun.

Do you like mini coopers? What about PT Cruisers? >> I don’t much care for either.

Have you ever been given flowers? Were they from a relative or someone special? >> If anyone’s given me flowers, it was probably Sparrow. Although I don’t remember ever receiving flowers.

Have you ever ridden on a motor cycle? >> Yes, many times.

Where you live, what are the laws regarding helmets? >> I’m not sure, because I see a lot of people riding around without them. I grew up thinking they were mandatory everywhere, but I guess it varies from state to state.

Do you chase after the ice cream truck? >> I have never done this.

When I say the year 1492, what comes to mind? >> “Columbus sailed the ocean blue”, unfortunately.

Do you prefer to buy or rent DVDs? >> ---

What was your favorite book as a child? >> I had a few.

Who is your favorite super hero? >> ---

Have you ever eaten at Chik-fil-a? >> Yep.

Have you ever seen a dead body? >> Not a human one.

Have you ever tried to read the dictionary the whole way through? >> I read the dictionary a lot as a child. I don’t know how far I got or anything because I wasn’t interested in keeping track of that. I was just doing it for fun.

What does your umbrella look like? >> The one I use most is red and black.

Do/did you have any hot teachers? Or is that thought kind of gross? >> I’ve had teachers I thought were attractive.

Is anyone you know pregnant? >> No.

Do you know any twins? >> No.

Do you spray tan? >> No.

Would you consider yourself healthy? >> I don’t really think about it. I haven’t been sick and I don’t have mysterious pains that I can’t explain (like, if my neck hurts it’s because I slept wrong or whatever; it’s traceable and not chronic) and my body functions relatively well, so I assume I’m mostly healthy, physically. My mental health is always up for debate.

#surveys #survey #random survey #not for reblogging *glare*

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sonipanda · 5 years

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This little purchase was made a little while ago from my Amazon Wishlist, and I was super intrigued with their design. It’s not something I have come across in a while (and when I last saw it, it was a Fiore pair too) so I thought I would get my hands on them to try out and see what they’re like on the legs!

The Spec

Colour: Black

Size: 2 – Small

Denier: 30

Materials: 81% Polyamide, 19% Elastane

Price: £7.99

Website: Amazon – Fiore Luxury 30 Denier Decorative 3D Patterned Tights

My Outfit

It’s a tad cold today, so let’s wear clothing with sleeves and is a little longer than a skirt too! I paired up my denim-looking dress with some lace-up court shoes to finish off my look. I kept jewellery to a minimum but you can always add a choker to long necklace.

My Deets

Dress: In The Style

Tights: Fiore

Heels: Public Desire

The Review

From The Website: Fiore 30 Denier luxury tights. Super fine 3D patterned tights with decorative panther print detailing.

Fiore Luxury 30 Denier Super Fine Decorative 3D Patterned Tights Brand New With Tags and Gift Packed 81% Polyamide and, 19% Elastane Fiore 30 Denier luxury tights. Super fine 3D patterned tights with decorative panther print detailing.

The Packaging: this is what made me super intrigued with them – that model! Even though the highlight of them is around the waist, I still liked how they have a polka dot effect to them coming down the legs.

The front shows the model wearing them, and the back goes into a little detail about the pair. What I didn’t realise was that these are a fine net rather than a smooth pair of tights. There was no mention of them being a net base at all; but hey, let’s work with what we have got. It just means I have to be super careful with my nails getting these on and off.

Getting Them On: I took my time to get them over the anklets and rolled up the legs. I wore hosiery gloves doing so as I didn’t want to create any snags or rips in the tights before actually walking around in them.

I made sure that they didn’t over-stretch in any way and that they were rolled up the legs (not pulled up).

On The Legs: well let me say that the best thing about that fine net is that they add this slimming look to the legs. It is a complete matte finish, which works wonders if you wanted that silhouette look.

The downside is that when the hosiery is stretched out on the legs, the dots look like they have been squished instead of keeping their shape. It just oozes on the legs near the top if you compare it to the bottom. I wasn’t a huge fan of this, and thank goodness that I wasn’t wearing anything short so you could see this as I was walking around.

The quality of them are really good; I didn’t have any snags or rips in them and tried my best to make sure that I avoided anything sharp or rough. These don’t have much stretch to them, but you still get a good hugging fit on the legs though.

Before I forget to mention, you will see the 4th image showing you a marking encased in a yellow circle. This has stayed put all day on the legs, no matter how many times I took my tights down and rolled back up again or tried to rub it away using my fingertips. I have no idea how that even happened and it certainly wasn’t going anytime soon either.

The fit of these are true to size, so I would recommend going one size up if you’re unsure. You’re probably better off doing so in this case. The feel of them are slightly rough but still a little soft. They aren’t smooth that’s for sure and these could easily get damaged if you’re not careful. I do feel that these would have worked better if they weren’t such a fine net.

Now there isn’t much to say about the design here as we’re just looking at polka dots being spread out the further up the legs you go. So I will mention the waist design part further down.

The Toes & Ankle: I don’t think the toes have reinforcement around them, so we shall have to be super careful wearing them with long nails. Luckily I cut mine down and smoothed them at the tips before I got my pair on today. These are fine around the feet; they have plenty of wiggle room, and they don’t have any pressure applied to them during the day either.

Around the feet and ankle it’s just the same. They have a fitted finish and look great overall.

The Waistband & Gusset: now let me start off by saying that this pair does not have a gusset to them, so I would advise underwear be worn unless you’re ok with how it is.

The band itself is pretty slim, but does its job well. It was a little tight to begin with, but it loosens very slightly once you start moving in them and carry on with your day. This sits around the waist on me and stays put all day long. I have no issues with this band at all.

The design is the eye-catcher part, and I truly love it. It’s my little secret, and it looks absolutely amazing when the clothes come off and you see this. It has this cat/leopard look to it all the way around for a good few inches, and then works into a smaller circular design further down you go until they end up as polka dots.

My Thoughts?

I gotta say these are a pretty funky pair, but I’m not so keen on the netting. If I had known beforehand, it wouldn’t have been an issue, but it did make me think. Apart from that, I do like the design and this is perfect for those who like minimalism on the legs. but don’t mind it being a statement piece when it gets to the top.

Fiore Catmint Patterned Tights This little purchase was made a little while ago from my Amazon Wishlist, and I was super intrigued with their design.

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blackchimaera · 6 years

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Bunch of dumb thoughts about Kingdom Hearts, 17 years too late and with a chunk of the serie already spoiled…

-I have no idea if the choices you make at the beginning do a big difference on the game. But it did seem omnious as hell being stuck there with Tidus, Selphie and Wakka looking at me with their big empty eyes and I was just wondering what I was supposed to pick…

-Selphie looks like she has seen some shit that she can’t unsee and hasn’t slept in weeks.

-There’s a locked door going to nobody knows where and the kids can totally play beside it. There’s no chance there’s a creepy dude in a white van on the other side.

-They want to set sail on a RAFT with two coconuts, an egg, a few mushrooms and water. To reach another world.

-Invisible coconuts just appear. I searched forever for them.

-Sora, despite being 14 and having lived on the island his whole life, still needs to be remembered that ocean water isn’t suitable to drink. What did his mother do when she raised him? It’s either ‘’Shame on you Sora’s mom’’ or ‘’Poor you for having a son this dumb’’.

-At this point I am just thinking that whoever wants Sora dead should just wait until he dies of natural selection.

-The tiny door opening in the huge door in the castle killed me.

-Thank god subtitles exist for Donald.

-Ok so Riku, Kairi and Sora had boats the entire time. Then why did you build a raft out of a few logs then?? I trust the boats much more than the raft.

-There’s a dude in what seems to be a Chewbacca onesie in the mysterious cave. Of course that cave was safe.

-I made it this far without complaining about the camera. I have two theories about why the camera suck so much : 1. The camera is attached to a huge ass cube with all the collisions set to maximum and it can’t move anywhere. Or 2. A really drunk Xigbar is forced to follow you, floating in the air with the camera.

-With all the quests markers indicating your every step, I forgot what it was like to not know where to go. I kept running around Traverse Town forever waiting to run into Donald and Goofy. I even wondered how to fix the broken ladder. I just had to go back to Cid’s shop…

-The Gummi ship garage is the most confusing interface ever. I am a 3D modeller. I never managed to do something other than removing parts of my ship. Even Blender is user friendly compared to this thing.

-Donald’s hat can be unzipped. I don’t know why, but it can.

-Everything in the Wonderland world could be solved in five seconds if I could just drink the thing to get me back to normal size. Including whacking the boss in the chest and not uselessly in the legs.

-Said boss destroyed both the table and the chair. I was stuck running to the corner and try to guess with the camera blocked when the boss was coming for me. Shame on you, drunk Xigbar with the camera.

-I am now a hero because I busted a bunch of barrels.

-I can’t beat Cerberus. Like this is a game with Mickey Mouse. I hoped to be able to play it on normal. Still hasn’t gotten over that fact.

-If only Donald and Goofy were useful… Other than useful at getting killed.

-I know they are looking for the king, and that started a fight before getting to Deep Jungle, but a no point in the other two worlds did they ever mention the king. I guess Mickey could be chilling anywhere as long as they don’t ask.

-Riku has pants over his pants.

-I could fill a page with how pointless the Gummi ride seems at this point. Does it ever start getting better or useful at some point?

Will add things as I remember them/manage to advance the story...

#kingdom hearts #kh #bunch of dumb thoughts

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jui-imouto-chan · 6 years

Text

Part 11 of The Mostly Human AU

Level Select:

Suggestions by @supposedlymatureadult

It’s odd to be in the house without Conan or Collin around.

Even Hank feels a bit off with the lack of the twins’ presence.

He keeps going to their rooms to inform that breakfast is ready, or lunch, or dinner, and he finds himself deflating when he remembers that they’re gone.

He places one shirt on each of their door’s knobs to remind himself to stop when he goes to enter their rooms.

Some nights, he’ll lay on their beds and wear their shirts while going into sleep mode.

Hank takes a few pictures and prints them out without Connor’s knowledge—he has good reasons, and he’s sure he’ll be forgiven.

Hank proposes the idea of a care package, and Connor leaps at the chance to provide for two of his closest people.

Connor prepares a bunch of food that he then freezes for them to heat up after they receive it.

He also packs medicine, some extra school supplies, and puts in some of the money he’d gotten from his detective-ing.

He also recognizes that they’re in college, so he hides something else inside of one of the zippable binders.

Hank slips some extra things into the package just as they’re about to seal it, but Connor doesn’t inspect nor question it—they’re Hank’s sons, not Connor’s. Whatever is in there is from Hank to them, and Connor can respect that.

The twins share an apartment nearby the campus, and find a package had been shipped to them, sitting on their doorstep.

“I hope it’s not a bomb.”

“It’s from dad, it’s probably a gun or something.”

“Let’s open it inside, then; don’t want the neighbors to catch us with a firearm again.”

“Yeah, that was messy.”

They open it and immediately find a note taped to the inside.

‘Hope you’re doing well! It’s weird not seeing you every day, and I’m finding that I miss you two a lot! Please do call me soon, I really want to hear your voices again! Hank’s message for you is, “Fuck shit up and don’t die.” Sumo only says “boof”, but I’m sure what he’s saying is full of affection. -Connor’

The note is cute, the words holding so much warmth and personality despite being written with perfect handwriting—the typeface appears to be specific to androids, from what they understand, after having scanned it with an app.

Conan and Collin fight over who keeps the note, but eventually they agree to stick it to the fridge.

After they get over their appreciation for Connor’s overwhelmingly endearing note, they see that he had labeled everything he packaged with little post-its.

The miscellaneous meals all had instructions for storing and heating. Connor prepared their favorites.

They immediately set about disposing of the dry ice they were packaged with and putting the food away. Conan also puts the medicine in the cabinet near the sink, while Collin places the school supplies on the table. One of the binders is heavier than the other, and he decides to investigate that after they’ve gotten everything out of the package. The money is placed in their savings jar, which they stash in a safe place.

At the bottom of the package is an envelope with the words, ‘From Dad’ on the top in Hank’s semi-neat, semi-sloppy handwriting.

Collin pulls it out and waits for Conan to sit beside him, tearing it open only after the older twin urges him to do so.

He reaches in an pulls up a few pieces of photo paper, though they’re facing away, so he can’t see what images are on them yet. The envelope reads, ‘He misses you two.’ under the cover.

They turn the photos over to see images of Connor sleeping in their clothes and their beds, pillows arranged to replace their bodies so that Connor could hug and cuddle them. There are two copies of each photo, so they can divide them up and take their share without fuss.

Their father knows them well.

Collin mentions the binder after he and Conan put the photos in their rooms.

He and Conan are surprised to find packages of condoms inside.

“Connor what the fuck.” Collin mutters to himself.

There’s an assortment of sizes, Connor got them anything between medium and extra large and they feel an odd sense of pride at that. There are also miscellaneous flavors and colors.

‘College is a place to learn first and foremost, but a search has shown me that there’s a lot of intercourse that occurs during a student’s time there, so I’m making sure you guys are safe! I didn’t know for sure what you’d prefer and your specifications on size, so I’ve taken the liberty of buying you a bunch! Have fun! 😉’

The winky face at the end is what gets Collin to groan into his hands and Conan to blow out a sigh.

“Does Connor really think we prioritize sexual endeavors to our schoolwork? Not to mention that neither of us are really interested in anyone other than him.”

Conan silently places the condoms under the bathroom sink, slamming the cabinet door shut. He vows that he will make it clear to Connor that the only one he’d ever have any sexual intentions for is him.

Collin wonders if he’d even need condoms with Connor, since he’s an android, but that leads into a rabbit hole of thoughts that Collin would rather not dive into while in the living room.

Carl calls Connor after a month of radio silence on the elder’s end.

His health had taken a nose dive, and Markus had been disguising his unease at flitting in and out of the hospital behind a cheery exterior.

Carl’s status was kept under wraps until he got better—even the rest of Jericho were left unaware of the man’s condition.

While he was in the hospital, he took a liking to the android in charge of tending to his needs—he didn’t have a name, but his model number was AP700.

This android doesn’t have a personality, unlike Connor, as it didn’t have a proper AI, just an extensive but not as extensive set of protocols.

Carl had Markus call up Kamski and request for the android to be reprogrammed after buying him from the hospital.

“Connor could use a friend he can relate to.” Carl explained, though Markus didn’t look entirely pleased by that.

When Carl calls, Connor is delighted to speak with him, polite but eager as he asks about how he’s been doing.

“It’s August, isn’t it? How time flies—it feels like it was only yesterday that Hank first called to complain about you.”

“It really doesn’t feel like it was that long ago, despite my system clock telling me it’s been 8 months. Simulatanously, it feels like it has also been a lifetime, which, considering the length of mine so far, is almost true.”

Carl considers for a moment. “How old are you, Connor?”

“It has been approximately one year since I was first activated in Mr. Kamski’s lab.”

“One year? It’s pretty weird that I’m talking to a one year old right now, wouldn’t you say?” Carl teases, chuckling lightly. Then his eyes light up in realization.

“Oh, Connor, we ought to throw you a birthday party!”

“A birthday party? I have been invited to a few before, but they seem to be something humans do to celebrate the life someone was given. Why would I need one?”

“You’re as alive as can be Connor, and you’re reason enough to celebrate.”

Connor eventually relents, and Carl eagerly recruits Kamski and Kara for the party planning.

August 23rd, 2037 was the date Kamski booted up Connor after his AI was finished and installed, so that’s when the party is set.

They didn’t inform Connor of the exact date, hoping that Connor will enjoy a surprise party.

They make sure to tell Hank to keep Connor from having any of his weapons on him. And, just in case, his coin.

Connor is good at improvising; he could wreak havoc with a sunflower seed and a glue stick if he felt the need to. Such precautions are drastic but necessary.

Everyone’s waiting in Carl’s living room, silent in the darkened room when Connor arrives at the mansion, dressed in black slim fitting jeans and with a blue oversized t-shirt. It has cartoonish versions of a multitude of cute animals arranged neatly on the front with hearts placed around them.

Connor is pushing Carl’s wheelchair, the painter and Hank keeping him distracted as they lead him to the living room.

Hank, standing slightly behind Connor, draws his attention with a question just as the doors open, so Connor is extra startled when there’s a shout of “Happy Birthday!” from a large sum of people.

He’s so shocked, in fact, that his system shuts down for a moment.

Hank catches Connor and Connor is left wide eyed, partially limp while his systems start back up, tears slowly coming to his eyes.

Markus runs out of the crowd trying to wipe Connor’s tears while apologizing profusely and telling everyone to cancel everything.

Carl rolls his eyes at Markus being utterly overdramatic.

“I...” Connor begins, eyes slowly focusing as his systems finally start coming back online.

“I’m not upset, or anything... I just...was overwhelmed by emotion and surprise.”

He can see his software instability shooting up and up and up, until it glitches out and vanishes. He’s just so happy now. He has so many friends—So many people who care about him and he can’t help the joyful tears.

They all surround him and reassure him and all comfort him with pats and cooed words.

Hank eventually grows exasperated with the comfort situation and clasps Connor’s hand, yanking him up onto his own feet, telling everyone that it’s time for actual partying, a hand clapped on Connor’s shoulder.

The Jerrys go into the kitchen and pull out an utterly MASSIVE cake, decked with an impressive amount and variety of frosting.

It’s decorated to look like a dog with an LED as a frisbee in its mouth. Candles stick up like the dog’s fur is 3D, and the LED itself is shimmering amongst the flickering firelight.

Connor almost screams in delight, and the Jerrys tell him that Markus used the frosting colors as paint to make the picture.

He throws his arms around Markus’ neck and jumps up and down, shouting out “thank you!!”-s at an alarmingly rapid pace. Markus moves his arms up to Connor’s waist to hug him back and/or hold him down, but Connor’s motions lead to Markus accidentally squeezing Connor’s ass. Markus suddenly finds himself being given a scolding look from Daniel and Josh while Simon gives him a congratulatory pat on the back with North. Rupert, standing nearby, watches him with displeasure in his eyes.

Ralph offers to cut the cake, and Kara warily hands him a knife, though her fear is unfounded—Ralph handles the knife with a certain amount of caution and care that makes her feel guilty for not trusting him as he places it beside the cake.

Meanwhile, Luther goes over to a box at the side and pulls out an excessive amount of party hats.

Everyone puts their hats on, waiting on Connor, who places it on his head.

He’s so cute when he looks up from under his lashes with a shy, delighted smile.

Immediately, Carl has little drones ready for pictures, capturing Connor’s smile as well as the group grinning at said birthday boy.

Another photo is of Connor blowing out the candles, hands holding the edge of the table as he does so, eyes sparkling in the light of the flames.

Ralph meticulously cuts the cake into even pieces. Thankfully, Connor doesn’t pay attention to the fact that the dog in the photo is now separated onto a bunch of plates.

Connor actually doesn’t get his own plate.

Per a suggestion from Kamski, everyone takes turns feeding Connor, who throws his head back and lets out muffled squeals of joy at the taste every time a forkful finds itself in his mouth.

Kara and Chloe teamed up to actually bake it, with Alice giving them tips about what Connor likes and dislikes. They also premade the frosting, before Markus used food coloring and flavoring mixed with the frosting to create his masterpiece on top.

The Jerrys helped with gathering supplies.

As the clock strikes midnight, Connor is laying his head on Hank’s lap, his father figure petting his hair lazily.

“First birthday, eh, Connor?” Hank takes care in messing Connor’s hair up as much as possible. “Did ya have fun, kiddo?”

“Yeah,” Connor says, looking all around the room sleepily.

Luther and Kara had to take Alice home not too long ago, despite the girl’s reluctance. She gave him a big hug and a kiss to the cheek before leaving. After them, people slowly trickled out, having work the next day. Markus set about putting Carl to bed, Jericho having left with the others, and now Connor, Hank, and the twins sluggishly ready themselves to leave. Most of Connor’s gifts were packed into the back of the car by Conan and Collin, so it was just a matter of getting him in the vehicle.

Unfortunately, Connor’s sleep mode overtook him and Hank ended up piggybacking him to the car. The twins agreed on sharing Conan’s bed so that they could both have Connor for the night.

Next Level: Getting Crushed at the Pet Shelter (suggested by @manadrite )

X| Continue to Next Level

O| Save Progress And Quit to Main Menu

————————————- •

Leave suggestions in the comments or my ask! You can also criticize, scream, and/or question in the same places!

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vio1315 · 6 years

Text

Copy and pasting what I sent to my friend this morning about a dream I had

(Took me 50 minutes to write apparently ha)

” I had a dream with you, oh myy goodness. It was so stupid detailed So I got a call from the job who fired me and they were willing to rehire me, and you decided to ?? Come with me ?? or something (I don't remember what you wanted to do) But you could drive so we were going separate, and I was right behind you all the wway sown [road near my home]. We had a lot of times where we could have separated or passed, but chose not to and had a good time. [It was summer?? There were palm trees??] (Your car could jump like in Mario Kart despite being a real car, and you kept doing it and I got upset cuz I didn't want you to get pulled over) We stopped at a mall and watched a movie in the theater. I don't remember tons about that, but we used a vending machine afterwards, and there was something important about it. So we continue down [That road], but it's entirely wooded and not at all developed, except for this one building. (Irl it's a little past Taco Bell) And we stop there. I check my phone and see that it's 3PM and I was supposed to be there at 8am. You feel bad but I'm like 'nah, I'll tell them I thought they told me to come in tomorrow?' Even though they didn't even text/call. (At one point I say 'I'll say I thought they meant Renaissance, not medival' to express this

so I ask you if you want to go to the gas station because it has a Taco Bell in it (this was vivid. I had my arm propped up on the pole to the overhang, and was resting my forehead in the crook of it while thinking) And you felt bad for me and were just 'No...' You mentioned that the gas station didn't used to be there like even a month ago, let alone a Subway, it was all woods. And I was like 'weird, I ate at this Subway a bit ago' (and I actually did earlier in the dream, but that's all I remember) (Yeah the dream only called it a Taco Bell once, but it was Subway the rest of the time. Not just in name onl either) And you went to your job interview inside. At this point in time, idk who interviewed you, but it was an?? Animal? But pokemon ish Def legendary vibes (And it cut away to Doug an Scott Walker and us eating at a Subwaay and it was the best thing we'd ever experienced? And it was the Taco Bell gas station, but Subway now and in the middle of a beautiful town. My mom mentioned that there was no Subway there, but she was in our living room, and I don't know if it was even a phonecall or not)

Anyways, so they tell you they wanna hire you like right then and there, and so you start training. There's one other girl with you in the gas station in the Subway segment. It has a few desks and chairs, and the legendary has a teachers pointer while a video plays on an old TV which is mounted above where the Subway and gas station connect. (The Subway has Nothing, no signs/decoration/food, and the gas station does have shelves but they are all empty. Nobody is at eiither but you three. But it's so glossed over I didn't nnotice in dream. Though "I" was still outside.) And you're shown an overhead map of the gas station with surounding woods on the TV, and its pointed to, and explained that long ago there was a ?? fire or something which destroyed the front of the store (I forget this part exactly) but then not long after a nuke was dropped on it, so the whole building was wiped out, and the surrounding forest took over again before they rebuilt. (The map kept up to date with all this ye)

WHile this was being explained, irl me/narrator me vaguely wondered at the importance of this kind of training, ultimately deciding it was useful to know the place you work fors history, in case a customer has questions.So you have the job and the legendary just ?? Adopts you. I don't remember how it was decided, or if you had a choice, but you were happy about it. Outside I was stressing about commission stuff and how to balance it with the new-old job, assuming I kept it after such a day 1 blunder.

Your new mom starts showing you around the house which has replaced the Subway, but also hasn't. Because at one point we're like 'when did this gas station get stain glass windows?' and the two slowly morphed, or grew from each other. It is still refered to as a Subway after this, and /sometimes/ the inside is still the empty Subway. But you follow your new mom outside and around the now cathedral-y building and up some new stairs which lead to a deck and back inside. I'm reflecting on how I even ate at this Subway when it didn't exist a month ago. (I think this happened during training but I forget. They let you and the girl (and I was there for this bit) decide on a logo for the Subway, since they are renting it and so can decide their own details)

And so we're all discussing it, but legendary-mom is like 'no you're right, we have to go in a new direction' and I predicted th one she'd pick, because I swore I saw it at the Subway I ate at back when it wasn't supposed to exist, and I was right, she picked that logo. Dream me is very suspicous.

Anyways so you go up the stairs and are shown around. You meet the dad and two other ??? people??? who will be your siblings. Everyone's really cool. You come tell me goodbye, and I'm happy for you, and we discuss life plans and our next meetup a bit. I seem to realize that lying is a sin, so I can't tell my employer I got the day wrong, and I decide to pray about what to do, thinking I'll be fired again. So I leave conflicted.

You go back with your new family and take pictures of the outside of the place at your new brothers request. You notice the lights turn on inside as it gets darker, and this spooks you for some reason. It's all stain glass though so it looks cool. You see your sibs walking in the hall, casting shadows. The mom says something that you hear. Eventually you decide it's too dark to keep taking pictures and go inside.

When you do there's a giant glowy portal which looks like a Halloweentown effect kind of. Red is the dominant color though. A giant creature comes out which looks mildly like the X legendary [Xerneas], but real, plain horns and more realistic legs. (But it's blue and glowy and impressive feeling. The horns especially /feel/ glowy. As the lighting gets more intense, they especially look red) Honestly the visuals get crazy weird and reminds me of Thumper a bit.

I think this startles you and you think you're being chased or ?? Anyways you get spooked and skedaddle. I forget how, but you realize there were 3 possible ways to get to that scene, and somehow you're able to play another, where instead of going throgh the front to an interview, you go to the back door where you get adopted faster and so get to bond more with your siblings before this. I forget the bonding scenes but they were really good and you ended up liking them a lot by the time you were done.

So you're back at the scene where this creature jumps out at you, but this time you notice something off, and see your adoptive mom hanging out, who by now looks veery like this new creature. And you're a little confused, but then you see the creature coming again, but this time it has subtitles, and you realize you're lookin at a TV screen, and you keep trying to look at your new family who is by you, trying to convince you it's Really Real despite how they don't know how to turn off the subtitles. (This all has a playful mood now, like a 7 year old failing at a prank)

You realize your dad looks a lot like the creature but smaller, and so figure out it's just been them basically. It then cuts to you going to sleep at this new house, and despite its size, you're laying on the ground by the bedroom door (there is a bed right next to you. This whole room, bed included is pink. It has some bows on it) Your new brother is laying by you, and in between you is a tiny doll cradle. In the cradle is an egg the size of your head, pink, and with an actual face. This is your mom. Dream decided this is just who she is now.

You guys discuss stuff but I forget what. You deecide you like being adopted though and are happy. You leave the room, and it plays the scene with the giant creature even though you're not over there, but you notice puppet strings now, and soon it's a photorealistic muppet show (none of my dreams have a realistic aethstetic, they usually appear at least a little bit drawn, so this is especially weird looking. All the muppets are giant) You watch, kind of acting in on it by now, like you get what this is. You figured it out.

It cuts to a sun mascot who laughs at a groaning audience, as this audience also figured it out. He laughs a really dumb kids show laugh and is like 'don't be mad at us! Now you can rewatch and look for clues!' [I swear to you it’s the Raisin Bran mascot]

Then it cuts to me, Doug and Scott Walker outside of the town-Subway we were in earlier. We're walking around the back. We were discussing how amazing that Subway was, and how it was the best food we'd had in our lives, but now we see the whole town was a computer 3D model (shown by seeing it unrendered on a computer. [a really oldschool computer too] Forget if it appeared that way irl or not while we were walking around it)

Scott is kindaa laughing but goes 'DANG IT! That was all from my mind! That's why it was so good!' And we all have a good laugh. And that's about where the dream ends

There was the stuff that came before which is majorly blurry. Basically I was following my dad around at a party, and I'd see some woman who was gonna try to stab someone, and I would jump in to stop them way before they could do any harm, and my dad never noticed, though I sometimes needed help

A lot of times I was a cat at these times, and thinking back to these human memories, in order to help me know how to take down evil cats for my clan (very warrior cats)

Oh yeah, the dream ended with my sitting by a car repair, studying the logo (which I thought sucked) and stressing about going back to the job

#Vio's Personal #Vio's Dreams #The architecture of this dream was so vivid but as per usual everything else was Not

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driscollroman3-blog · 6 years

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This's clear you'll never find Nintendo activities on iOS, yet PicoPicoGames is actually the second best point: a collection of tiny, addicting NES-like minigames. All your interactions with this game are actually with clicking and also dragging, so this works merely great on a Chromebook. Fantastic Britain get in a staff for the video games which is made up from sportsmens from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland but throughout guide it is mentioning the England volleyball crew as well as other such rubbish. Directing cabling in the real world provides madness, and so this might not be actually the most intelligent operation making in to an activity played on an unit with a glass display. This's certainly not just what I expected from an author that formulated the rather one-of-a-kind suggestion of the NPCs in computer game being actually active as well as real individuals embeded storage tanks from goo. There were actually absolutely no happy individuals within this publication apart from one, as well as they placed him in a psychological establishment. The small grab is actually a hexagon sits at the top, and also the 2nd this comes under deep space, your game mores than. By comparison, in a problem game time works like an egg cooking timer: fracture a degree just before your patience ends and the timer is flipped; your store of persistence is renewed. Enjoying popular music demands that individuals open up the media gamer or Groove Music application and also pop this sideways from their monitor along with their game. The Hunger Games is high quality YA, smartly created, and also despite its own imperfections this's worthy of effectiveness. This brings in the listing due to the fact that is one of the best addicting and also straightforward games you'll obtain your practical. I kept viewing The Despising Activity on my Twitter, Instagram, and also Goodreads timetable as well as because that is actually been actually collecting higher scores, certainly my inquisitiveness was piqued. Does Not Commute is actually a clever activity that incorporates driving and challenge aspects to offer you along with a suspenseful as well as unique experience. I specifically suched as the opening stock, which provided a concrete capability test surrounding activities like deciding on a word that ought to be actually gotten rid of off a paragraph or testing your callback after reviewing an extract. Quite potentially the most effective LEGO video game to date, LEGO Superstar Wars: The Pressure Awakens is a certain breath of clean Hoth air for the stagnating flick franchise-turned-LEGO game formula.

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attract-mode-collective · 6 years

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"weLCUM to the motherfucking Queer matrixXx"

In part 1 of my recap of stuff tweeted during the later half of May, over at @AttractMode, I mentioned that one thing that kept me awfully busy… hence the backlog and two-part recap for Tumblr & Medium… was Death By Audio Arcade X Dreamhouse II.

The proper/full name of the soiree was Ova the Rainbow: DreamBoxXx, which is where most of these photos were taken, with a few from Death By Audio Arcade X Dreamhouse I; the photographer on the behalf of Gothamist was there for both opening & closing parties, to help add color to their story...

... BTW, the arcade will open one last time, this Friday (June 8th). Doors open at 7!

And as for the rest of last month... well... back to the subject of arcades for a sec; it’s a dream of many to have the full experience at home, though space is obviously the primary issue. Thankfully you (or your Lego minifigs to be exact) have options (via @ActionFigured)...

This Blast City shirt was designed on a CRT monitor, making it extra legit (no word if it was in TATE orientation tho; via theyetee.com)...

I basically know nothing about Avail, though appears to be a Target or H&M-like retail entity for Japan? Well recently they had a Gradius shirt for sale, but I missed my chance to save a copy of the PDF circular from which it made its seemingly sole appearance.

Hence why I had resort to blowing up this screencap (via miki800.com)...

There's actually a 2nd Gradius tee, and we thankfully have a far better look at it this time (via miki800.com)…

... I almost have to wonder if the 1st one was a mock-up or placeholder or something, cuz I seriously cannot find an image of it anywhere.

Few things get me as giddy as a nice 180 camera turn around with sprites (via segacity)...

And 3D turnarounds of polygonal characters are cool, provided that they’re watercolored (via typhlosionofficial)...

Same (via @BauceSauce)...

Sorry, but the sight of shelf after shelf, all bucking under the massive weight of countless carts & discs, is an eyesore IMHO. Instead, a modest pile of software with plenty of breathing room work best for me (via sixteen-bit)...

Such a beautifully personalized iPhone is essentially an iPhone for life (via miki800)...

A (video game) toy chest… a (video game) treasure chest… basically both? (via miki800)...

Remember hearing about Street Fighter 2 X Transformers? Well, they're finally here (via tfw2005.com)...

To be honest I have enough toys. Whereas I could always use more storage! Hence my interest in these SF2 USB sticks. But I can’t decide which World Warrior I want to see in such sad shape all the (via miki800.com)...

Time for another crossover, specifically Virtual On X bunny girls; a custom model kit of Angelan (via shop2000.com)...

A look at all the Tokyo Game Show poster girls since 2010 (via videogamesdensetsu)...

The first Famciase of 2018 to get my attention now has a fake ad to go with the fake game (via pepesalot)...

I'm 99.99% confident that this gaming set up/living quarters (via @miaumiauzmiau)...

... belongs to Polylina, aka Poririna, aka SEGA SATURN GAL (via this old post from a few years back)...

Note the similar pink curtains...

Who wears their Space Invaders shirt better? This guy (via shmups)…

Or this gal (via thesensualeye)...

The chairs for Space Invaders Frenzy has seen some serious shit (via oh-log-n)...

It’s a Space Invaders bathroom cuz why not (via it8bit)...

Nothing illustrates the harsh game making environment better than this one dev’s cardboard facade, underneath his desk, to emulate home (via videogamesdensetsu)...

Kitchen pantry cat’s prices are way better than bedroom closet cat’s (via @tatuya01)...

Memorial Day took place near the end of May, naturally, which meant another opportunity to repost my fave video starring the greatest soldier of the 20th century (via this other old post from years ago)...

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Memorial Day weekend was also when I decided to post a bunch of YouTube vids; remember that one explaining why wiggling Sonic 3D Blast for the Genesis produces a level select? Did you also remember to subscribe to the channel? If so, you’d already know how Sonic R did transparencies on the Saturn...

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Do you like Famiclones? Do you like Jackie Chan? Then you might like...

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... I ended up going down a Jackie Chan rabbit hole, which resulted in a high-quality version of the infamous soundtrack to Hong Kong 97. Which in turn led to the discovery that the loop is actually a small portion of a full-length song entitled "I Love Beijing Tiananmen".

Sorry to ask everyone to click out, but I have a limit on how many videos I can embed in a single post and all.

Come to see what NES game Bithead1000 broke the bank on, stay to hear him bitch about Trapper Keepers...

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Spoilers: it was Metal Storm, and can you believe that it managed to grace the cover of Nintendo Power? Not complaining of, more impressed than anything else (via shmups)...

Time for some bonus Bithead1000, which I’m not posting cuz of the aforementioned technical limitation, plus it has nothing to do with games anyway: hearing him talk about old school rap made my Memorial Day and hopefully it'll make yours, no matter what date it is.

Yet another video I must abstain from embedding is Johnny Cage performs 4'33". Hopefully all of you fans of Mortal Kombat/experimental compositions/shitty webtoons do not feel slighted (via roman55)...

Another look at the “New Aero City” stick, this time with the intended color scheme of yellow for both the balltop & buttons (last time they were red, as seen here; via hibachicandy)...

It’s the guy made Metal Gear and the guy who made Kong: Skull Island, playing Xevious & Ikaruga (via xtheo.ca)...

The beginning of the ultimate road trip (via lazywaifus)...

Like many others, I spent an entire morning pouring over that epic game collection before it was set to be auctioned off at the end of the month; my wish list included a SuperGrafx, TurboDuo, CD-i, Nuon, and Donkey Kong for the OG GB sealed… (via bodnarsauction.com)...

Alas, I couldn’t make the trip to Edison, NJ for the auction. Thankfully, @textfiles could; be sure to check all the photos he posted on May 31 for all that he saw...

Am surprised it took this long to see something like this (via @gamesyouloved)...

… The same source also posted this Sonic gif; I’ve looked everywhere for the source but zero luck… can anyone point me in the right direction?

Back to the aforementioned auction, or should I say the mass acquisition of old games; it’s always been a secret plan to collect a bunch of Super FX carts in order to extract the chips, for... something? (via pixelpolygon)

Thought check out what the Mega Drive/Genesis can do without the help of any fancy chips (via vidgam)...

...BTW, am aware of the fact that equally amazing programmers can probably push the SNES in crazy ways if given chance.

Am also familiar with the SVP or Sega Virtua Processor that drove the 16-bit version of Virtua Racing (which I enjoy better than the 32X version).

Re: the auction one last time: so the real reason why I didn't bother with making that trip to Jersey? There wasn't a Divers 2000 CX-1 on-hand (via anthony10000000)...

Here’s someone really enjoying a game of Zaxxon (via arcadezen)...

And someone... well... maybe enjoying a game of Polybius? (via dualvoidanima)

Okay, so this gif ain’t related to video games per say, yet this came up in a Tumblr that I frequent for super cool shit, plus the music video it’s from is neat, so there ya go (via mendelpalace)...

Speaking of sources for content, worlds collided with the surprise appearance of Just One Boss (which I first encountered at Death By Audio Arcade's Lo-Fi Game Night several months back) at obscurevideogames...

Worlds continued to collide with the surprise appearance of Attract Mode's Dark Souls print by Judson Cowan, in a recent article in Kotaku on the subject of Dark Souls Remastered...

One last last thing: I’ve long considered Suzuki Bakuhatsu to be THE game that best represents the Attract Mode a e s t h e t i c & I’m super happy that the RetroPals finally got around to playing it...

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calartscinemotion · 8 years

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John Mahoney’s Zentropa by Michelle Lam

John Mahoney, originally from New York City, is a faculty member of the CalArts Character Animation program who recently has had great success in publishing a beautifully produced, illustrative comic-novel Zentropa. Mahoney was initially inspired by the work of Moebius and other artists in Heavy Metal magazine, and this led him to create his own sci-fi graphic novel.

In the interview below, Mahoney describes the challenges he faced on this creative journey, offering insights that young aspiring artists will find motivational. Zentropa showcases a range of beautiful, intricate line drawings, fantastical characters, and unique ways of laying out each page. It also reflects a complex creative journey that Mahoney took. ML: So to start off, can we hear about some of your background information, or the journey you took to where you are today as an artist? JM: Ok, sure! Originally I went to school for illustration at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. I thought I wanted to be an illustrator. And then, around senior year I decided I wanted to get a bit more into filmmaking. So that’s when I ended up pursuing Disney and I got involved with working (for Disney) as a visual development artist. But even during that time I was always wishing I could do my own comic, or my own project -- something like that. That was something that was always in the back of my mind. ML: As someone who collects a lot of artistic inspiration, who or what was your initial motivation to create Zentropa? JM: Yeah, I was at, I think the first CTN show about five years ago, and I had a chance to meet Moebius. I didn’t realize this at the time, but he was my original inspiration because he created Heavy Metal Magazine. When I was growing up in high school, that was the only art I had to influence me. Getting a chance to meet him and see him draw was incredible-- and then a few months later he passed away, so I thought that to do a tribute to Moebius would be the most I could thank him. So that was in the back of my mind. And then, two years ago I got really sick. The doctors said, “You probably aren’t going to live.” And that was it. At that point, I just focused on survival. All I wanted to do is live. After some amazing surgery, I was notified that I will live after all. This helped me put a lot of things in perspective. So I thought to myself, “What’s the point of struggling to do a "good graphic novel", or do anything good? Why don’t I just create art and enjoy yourself?” So I decided at that point, I’m just going to do a bad graphic novel. I’m going to do something with no words, because I don’t like words. Words get in my way. So I just did it as a personal project for myself. I was recovering from surgery at that time, so I could really walk or anything, I was just kinda at my desk. So it was a great opportunity to focus on something, and it really helped me while I was healing. So many pages just started coming out. I would do a page a day, or two pages a day. Then, I showed some sample pages to a book dealer, Stuart Ng Books. He looked at the pages and he said, “This looks great! This could really sell.” I was like, “Really?” He put me in touch with a publisher to self publish my books. So I decided I would pay for the book and launch a kickstarter to hopefully pay me back for the initial investment, which was about $7,000 at the time. So at that point, I made the book and was so nervous about doing the kickstarter -- I didn’t launch the kickstarter for several months. It was just so nerve wracking, but when we finally did launch, we were able to raise the $7000 by the end of the first day. Within 30 days, we raised a total of $23,000. ML: According to your kick starter, Zentropa is in the style of old Heavy Metal comic strips. So what major aspects of Heavy Metal would you say you incorporated into Zentropa? JM: Well, the main thing is that it’s very individualistic/weird. Back in the old days, every single artist had their own style. You didn’t have to tell linear stories. You could just go in bizarre directions, or at least in the 70’s and 80’s, Heavy Metal allowed for that. So, I allowed myself to go into this world and kept talking about Heavy Metal as often as I could on social network. Little did I know that the CEO of Heavy Metal was following the project (Zentropa). ML: That’s so cool! JM: Yeah, I had not idea! At the end of the Kickstarter campaign, the CEO called me to set up a meeting. He said, “So what do you want to do with Heavy Metal?” I was trying to hold back my tears. This was the whole reason I did art -- because it was based on Heavy Metal’s magazine. They listed a bunch of possibilities then offered to publish ten pages of Zentropa in Heavy Metal every month until they do the whole book. They made me promise to color every page, so I’ve been doing that, and I’m on issue five now. That’s fifty pages so far for Heavy Metal. ML: That’s amazing! So the illustrations in Zentropa are extremely detailed and intricate. Would you mind explaining the time and process behind those drawings? JM: It’s kind of a strange process. I would experiment with rendering my Zbrush sculptures and put it these images up on facebook. Then someone mentioned how bad my renderings were. So for the fun of it, I started rendering stuff in pink and green, and make it look as terrible as possible -- Just to say, “Yeah, it’s bad and I can make it worse.” Then, I stumbled across this shader I invented that makes my 3D models look like outlined drawings. It looked interesting in the computer, so I wanted to see if I could print a comic book page in this style. So I printed a few pages out at Staples. I thought it was going to look completely digitalized. I started tearing up in the car because it looked like a real line drawing. I couldn’t believe it. I was like, “Oh my God,” and that was it. It’s based on my original line drawing style, but it’s mostly CG models that have been collaged together. ML: I didn’t even know that! When I was looking through your book, I was like, “How do you draw all of this?!” And now I learned that all of this was sculpted in 3D. That’s amazing. So I was also wondering if there’s a reason behind why some of the pages are in color, while the rest was in black and white? JM: Well, believe it or not, I did color most of the book. But the last, last minute, I contacted the publisher and took those colors out. It just has such a strong black and white quality to it. So, I only sparingly left a few of the colored pages in there. The whole end of the book is colored. I did that because I had no idea of what else to do. I just ran out of ideas, so I started doing these colored characters. I had around eight or nine characters on one photoshop file. I turned on all the layers by mistake once and it looked really cool! So that’s how all those intricate things came out at the end of the book, they were just all my layers on photoshop. ML: So Zentropa clearly has a story or narrative behind all the images. But, there isn’t really any dialogue provided. Do you want your audience to kind of develop their own interpretations, or is there a set story that we should figure out based on the images? JM: Well, I do have a basic idea or feeling of where this is going, almost. It’s kind of like a dream, but I wanted to allow the audience to come up with their own story. I have a friend right now who’s writing a screenplay, and he told me his interpretation. I was like, “That’s AWESOME! I never thought of that!” Also, when I was a kid, I would look at Marvel Comics. I wouldn’t read them, I would just look at them. I would stare at the images and imagine. So I want that audience to feel how I felt like when I was twelve or ten. The only way to ensure they would do that is to remove all the dialogue. So I did a pass with word bubbles, and I just felt like it was closing the door to people’s interpretations by me saying what it is. I started feeling a little depressed, so I pulled all those word bubbles out. ML: I see, that’s interesting. So besides other art inspirations, do you have any life experiences that inspired you to create this comic? JM: Not necessarily life experiences, because I think the whole thing is a life experience. Well, hold up, let me start again, because that’s a good question. Going through the operation and surviving all of that... once I looked through the book many months later, I realized that the characters are floating through this unknown space. If you look at all the sci-fi stuff, it feels very biological. I think that may have been the war that was going on inside of my body -- trying to fight it, winning sometimes, losing sometimes. So I do think there is a biological struggle that you can see in the images, which I didn’t see until many months after the book was done. I think it was a self conscious influence, and also consciously, I was watching the movie Gravity over and over again while I was making the book. ML: That’s really inspiring! Yeah, so this is the last question: What are some things you learned during the creation of Zentropa that you feel may help other aspiring artists and storytellers? JM: Yeah, the biggest thing is: Life is short. There is no time for self criticism. You don’t really need to self criticize. Just do it. If you enjoy it, that’s all that counts, even if no one else does. My goal was to have 7,000 books in my storage facility. I had no idea that people would respond to it so strongly. So, that will be my advice. Just trust yourself, and if you really enjoy what you’re doing, keep doing it. Even if you don’t think you’ll make a penny from it, or you think nobody else would like it. The gratification you will get from it is incredible. So many doors have opened up, which was not my intention at all from doing this project. So that would be my insider advice to people who might wanna do that. If anyone is interested in getting the book, here is the website: www.theinspirationstation.com

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